For nearly a month, deposed President Mohamed Morsi has been held under military detention.
The former Egyptian leader received his first visit from the outside world when Catherine Ashton, the EU's top diplomat, was granted access in order to push for a negotiated solution to Egypt's deepening crisis.
According to Ashton, Morsi is well and the two had a friendly, open and very frank discussion.
Scores of Islamists have already been massacred by troops and security personnel in separate attacks this month, yet many Egyptians appear either unconcerned or accuse the Muslim Brotherhood of provocation.
Amal Sharaf, an activist who met Ashton, is a leading member of the April 6 youth movement, the influential protest group which helped spearhead the 2011 revolt. She said that in her eyes the Brotherhood was a terrorist organisation. "The army is doing its best to try and stop violence," she said. There are not many people that would accept having an armed sit-in in their country, she added, referring to accusations that pro-Morsi protesters habitually carry weapons.
