Top European diplomat Catherine Ashton meets with Egypt's deposed president Mohammed Morsi

Egypt's rulers have allowed the EU's foreign affairs chief, Catherine Ashton, to meet with deposed president Mohammed Morsi at an undisclosed location, according to Ms Ashton's spokeswoman.

The surprise meeting comes during Ms Ashton's visit to Cairo to try and defuse tensions that threaten further violence.

It is the first time an outsider is known to have had access to the deposed president since the military overthrew him and jailed him a month ago.

Ms Ashton held two hours of "in depth" discussions with Mr Morsi late on Monday, her spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said on Twitter.
Ms Kocijancic did not say where the talks had taken place.


Mr Morsi has been held incommunicado since the military removed him from power on July 3.
Egypt's authorities say he is being investigated for charges including murder, stemming from a 2011 jailbreak when he escaped detention during protests against former autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Ashton holds talks with army, interim government

Ms Ashton, Europe's top diplomat, has been shuttling between Egypt's rulers and Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood to try to pull the country back from more bloodshed.
She is one of the only outsiders that is accepted by both sides as a potential mediator.
During her visit to Cairo, Ms Ashton met with the head of the Egyptian army, General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and held talks with members of the interim government that the army installed.

She also met with representatives of the Freedom and Justice Party, the Brotherhood's political wing.
Ms Ashton attempted to serve as a mediator earlier this year and is seen by both sides as an important neutral voice in a country where the United States is looked upon with suspicion.

Brotherhood pledges to continue protests

Eighty Brotherhood supporters were gunned down on Saturday, and foreign countries are urging the party and the country's military-backed rulers to reach a compromise to bring Egypt back from the brink of further bloodshed.

The government has ordered the Brotherhood to abandon a vigil it has maintained with thousands of supporters camping out to demand Mr Morsi's return.

But the Brotherhood says it will not leave the streets unless Mr Morsi is restored, and has pledged to hold more marches on Tuesday.

"It's very simple, we are not going anywhere," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad. "We are going to increase the protest."