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| EU envoy allowed to meet Morsi, says he is in good health |
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.jpg) CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's rulers allowed an EU envoy to meet deposed President Mohamed Morsi, the first time an outsider was given access to him since the army overthrew him and jailed him a month ago, and she said she found him in good health.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton revealed little about what she called a "friendly, open and very frank" two-hour conversation with Morsi, after she was flown to an undisclosed location to visit him.
"I've tried to make sure that his family know he is well," said Ashton, who has emerged as one of the only figures accepted by both sides as a potential mediator in a conflict that has plunged the most populous Arab state into violent confrontation.
Ashton said Morsi had access to television and was informed about the situation in the country. Nearly 300 people have been killed in violence since Morsi was removed on July 3, including 80 of his supporters gunned down at dawn on Saturday.
Media have speculated about why the military-backed rulers would have allowed her to meet the ousted leader who had been kept incommunicado for a month.
She denied that she carried an offer to Morsi, who faces charges including murder, of "safe exit" if he were to renounce his claim to the presidency.
Many people have suggested such an arrangement could be part of a deal that would allow Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood to leave the streets and join an army-backed "road map" to civilian rule, but would require Morsi to abandon his historic mandate as Egypt's first freely-elected leader.
Ashton said she would not attempt to characterize Morsi's positions, which no one has heard since he was overthrown.
"I also told him in my two hour conversation that I was not going to represent his views because in the circumstances he cannot correct me if I do it wrongly," she said.
Meeting Morsi was a condition of Ashton's offer to visit Egypt, where she also met with the general who removed him and other top leaders on her second trip in 12 days.
"I said I wouldn't come unless I could see him (Morsi)," said Ashton, who has emerged this year as the main international envoy in Egypt where the traditional Western ally, the United States, is regarded with extreme suspicion by both sides.
She was flown in a military helicopter to the meeting and said she did not know where she was.
"I saw where he was. I don't know where he is but I saw the facilities he has," said Ashton.
Egypt's authorities say Morsi is being investigated for charges including murder, stemming from a 2011 jailbreak when he escaped detention during protests against former autocrat Hosni Mubarak. His Muslim Brotherhood says the charges are absurd and trumped up to justify his detention.
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