The head of the European Union’s foreign policy unit, Catherine Ashton, met with Egypt’s Mohammed Morsi late Monday, the first time the former president has been granted a meeting with any diplomat since the military threw him from office on July 3.
The meeting occurred about 9 p.m. and lasted two hours, The New York Times reported.
The location of the meeting was kept secret, Reuters reported.
Ms. Ashton said on Tuesday that Mr. Morsi was in good health, and even had access to television news and newspapers, Reuters reported.
“I’ve tried to make sure that his family know he is well,” she said, in a brief statement after the meeting.
Ms. Ashton is in Egypt to help bring about a peaceful settlement to the chaos and unrest. She said she used her looming diplomatic talks as a bartering point to meet with Mr. Morsi.
“I said I wouldn’t come [to Egypt] unless I could see him,” she said, Reuters reported.
She also denied that she had offered the ousted leader a “safe exit,” she said.
A court ordered Mr. Morsi to be held on charges, related to his 2011 prison break, for 15 days last week.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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