By Aamir Latif – Anadolu Agency
ISLAMABAD
Pakistan on Thursday condemned the killing of unarmed supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, while the National Assembly adopted a resolution calling for the restoration of democracy in the country.
"Unarmed protestors are being killed en masse in Egypt, which is highly condemnable and a matter of great concern," Interior Minister Chaudry Nisar Ali Khan told the National Assembly.
"The entire Muslim world is with the people of Egypt, where an elected government has been dismissed through bloodshed," he added.
On Wednesday, Egyptian security forces violently dispersed two six-week-old sit-ins staged by Morsi supporters in Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya Square and Giza's Nahda Square.
The Egyptian Health Ministry has said that at least 525 people were killed and more than 3700 injured in nationwide violence.
But Youssef Talaat, a member of Egypt's National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a coalition pro-Morsi Islamist parties and figures, put the toll at well over 2,600.
Nisar also expressed his concern over the ousted president's continued detention by the authorities.
"The detention of an elected president is a matter of concern for us," he asserted.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, has not been seen in public since the powerful military ousted him early last month.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had earlier failed to strongly condemn Morsi's ouster – a position that local observers attributed to pressure from Saudi Arabia, which has expressed support for Morsi's removal by Egypt's military.
"Pakistan is a sovereign country and it cannot be dictated to by any country to formulate its foreign policy," a senior Foreign Office official, wishing not to be named, told Anadolu Agency.
"Pakistan believes that the future of the people of Egypt is attached to democracy, and the military coup has posed a serious threat to that [democracy]," he added.
Foreign Office spokesman Aizaz Chaudry described recent events as "a blow to democracy in Egypt."
- Resolution
The National Assembly, meanwhile, has approved a resolution calling for the restoration of democracy in Egypt in line with the Egyptian popular will.
The resolution, tabled by Jammat-e-Islami's parliamentary leader Sahibzada Tariqullah, was unanimously approved by both the government and opposition benches.
It expresses grave concern and dismay over the use of force against unarmed protesters and civilians and the loss of hundreds of lives.
The resolution demands the government of Pakistan to convey the Pakistani people's concerns regarding the killing of unarmed civilians to Egypt's interim government.
It also expresses Pakistan's complete solidarity with the people of Egypt.
Scores of demonstrations and rallies were staged across Pakistan on Thursday to condemn the killing of unarmed protestors by Egyptian authorities and the ouster of Egypt's first freely
- French President summons Egyptian envoy elected president
French President Francois Hollande summoned Egypt's Ambassador in Paris Mohamed Moustafa Kamal after the Egyptian crackdown on pro-Morsi sit-ins.
Holding a meeting at Elysee Palace early Thursday, Hollande has expressed the country's "serious concern" over the bloody crackdown on pro-Morsi protesters.
“The right to peaceful protest must be respected. This right comes with it, of course, the need for protesters to carry themselves in a peaceful manner. Everything must be done to prevent civil war,” Hollande said according to the statement released by the Elysee Palace.
Hollande also added France was committed to finding a political solution and called for elections to be held as soon as possible, according to the statement.
- Morocco's ruling party condemns Egypt bloodshed
Morocco's ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) condemned Wednesday's violent police dispersal of the deposed president's supporters at two major sit-ins in Cairo and Giza.
The PJD said Egypt's interim government was "making repeated mistakes" and it called on Egyptian authorities "to stand by their people not to drag the nation into a quagmire."
The party described the crackdown as a "horrible massacre" and said "those who are committing crimes against humanity must be punished heavily."
The PJD urged the reinstatement of Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi -- who was ousted in a Juy 3 military coup -- calling on Egyptian people to continue to voice their legitimate demands.
Morocco's main oppositon party, Modernity and Authenticity and several other parties had also condemned Wednesday's deadly crackdown.
Hundreds of people had gathered in front of Morocco's parliament to protest the violent crackdown in Egypt.
The Egyptian Health Ministry said Thursday that at least 421 people had been killed in the violence that gripped the country.
However, the official death toll remains far below figures given by the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy, a coalition of pro-Morsi parties and figures, which has put the number of deaths from the dispersal of the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in alone at some 2,600.
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