Ashton calls on Mubarak to hold immediate talks with opposition
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
Berlin, Jan 31, IRNA -- European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to immediately hold talks with the opposition and respond to the demands of the Egyptian people, news reports said here Monday.
'There needs to be a peaceful way forward based on an open and serious dialogue with the opposition parties and all parts of civil society, and we believe it needs to happen now,' Ashton told the press ahead of a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.
'The legitimate grievances of the Egyptian people should be responded to. Their aspirations for a just, better future should be met with urgent, concrete and decisive answers, and with real steps,' she said.
Although the EU's top diplomat said the 27-nation bloc was ready to support democratic forces in Egypt she stopped well short of demanding Mubarak's resignation.
Ashton urged 'everyone and especially the police forces' to exercise restraint to avoid further bloodshed.
The seven-day unrest in Egypt has been at the center stage of a regular meeting of EU foreign ministers in the Belgian capital.
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