EU Foreign Policy Chief Regrets Not Seeing Morsi

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (left) with the now-ousted Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi earlier this year.

European Union's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says she regrets she was unable to meet with Egypt's ousted president, Muhammad Morsi, during a visit to Cairo.

She called for Morsi’s immediate release from the custody he has been kept in since Egypt's army toppled him on July 3.

Ashton arrived in the Egyptian capital on July 17, a day after members of a new interim government were sworn into office in Cairo.

During her visit, she met with interim President Adli Mansour, interim Prime Minister Hazem al-Beblawi, and interim Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi -- the general who orchestrated Morsi’s ouster.

Ashton says she was also able to meet officials from the Freedom and Justice Party -- the political wing of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Many leaders of that party have been detained by Egypt's military.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP