US senator John McCain calls for talks with former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi

John McCain, the US senator, has urged Egypt’s military-backed government to release detained members of the Muslim Brotherhood before starting negotiations.

Mr McCain and fellow senator Lindsey Graham met military and civilian leaders in Cairo as part of a flurry of international efforts to resolve a standoff with supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the ousted President.

“In democracy, you sit down and talk to each other,” Senator Graham said. Egypt’s interim presidency denounced “foreign pressure” in a sign of its growing impatience with mediation.

AP