Egypt summons European envoys over human rights criticism

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry summoned Thursday a number of European ambassadors in Cairo to protest those states which signed a statement criticizing human rights in Egypt, state-run MENA news agency reported.

"The aim was to send them a strong message of protest against the statement and to clarify that such a position, if not corrected, will greatly harm bilateral relations between those states and Egypt," MENA quoted assistant foreign minister for European affairs Hatem Seif-al-Nasr as saying.

As many as 28 states gathered in Geneva last week during the current session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, including the United States, Britain, France and Germany, and they denounced the use of "lethal force" by the Egyptian security forces against supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi was ousted by the military last July after mass protests against his one-year rule. The ouster was followed by a massive security crackdown on his loyalists.

In mid-August, the security forces disbanded two major pro- Morsi sit-ins in Cairo and Giza, which left about 1,000 killed and thousands arrested. Amnesty International said the crackdown killed over 1,400 since Morsi's removal.

Since his removal, Morsi's supporters, led by the Muslim Brotherhood group and Islamist affiliates, have been holding constant anti-government protests in defiance of a new anti- protest law.

The Brotherhood has been blacklisted as "a terrorist organization" by the government last December.