Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy said that every effort is being made to resolve ousted president Mohamed Morsi’s supporters’ sit-ins through dialogue, in an interview with the BBC on Monday.
Fahmy also said that “the stand-off cannot continue endlessly, assuring that law and order must be put in place.
He insisted that if security forces begin to apply their procedures, it will be according to standards allowed by the law and by court order.
Fahmy said that everybody has the right to protest and to sit-in, but they should allow others access to their homes and workplaces, and to “ensure that what they are doing is peaceful.”
Fahmy, the former Egyptian ambassador to the USA, compared the current situation in Egypt with the England riots in 2011, saying that “they –protesters- were allowed to protest until things got out of order and police engaged with them.”
Fahmy stated that the Muslim Brotherhood can engage politically through Freedom and Justice party, and their individuals who do not have any criminal charges pending against them, and also that any detained Brotherhood leaders who do not have enough evidence against them will be released.
Fahmy stated that Egypt is passing through a transitional phase, after two revolutions in two years, but the final objective is building a democratic state that does not exclude anyone.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Facebook page said that Fahmy gave an interview with Italian news agency ANSA on Monday. State-owned El Ahram reported that he said in the interview that Egypt welcomed all the efforts exerted by external sides to solve the current crisis through dialogue, while leaving Egypt with the freedom to make decisions according to national security considerations.
Fahmy also talked about dual relationships between Egypt and Italy, saying that Italian tourism to Egypt should return to its normal levels after the reinstatement of security and the rule of law.
The ministry of foreign affairs issued a release early on Monday, saying that Egyptian ambassadors are exerting efforts to communicate with officials in their respective countries, to protect the 30th of June revolution and explain the situation in Egypt, including ambassadors to the UK, Australia, Norway, Peru, Serbia, Uganda, DR Congo, Gabon and Mauritius.
Egyptian ambassador to France, Mohamed Mostafa Kamal, visited the principality of Monaco on Sunday to deliver a message from the interim president Adly Mansour to Prince Albert II, where he also met the Monacan minister of State, to re-state that what happened on the 30th of June was a revolution, not a military coup, according to a release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
