Egypt is deeply concerned about the UN speech by Tunisian President Moncef Marzouk who called on Cairo to release “political prisoners” including ousted President Mohamed Morsi.



The Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday criticized Marzouk’s speech delivered to the 68th annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.


“The content of this speech contradicts with the reality and represents a challenge to the will of the Egyptian people, who took to the streets in their millions on June 30 to demand a real democracy that paves the way for building a modern state of all Egyptians without exclusion,” Egypt’s ministry said in a statement.

The Tunisian president called on Cairo to release Morsi and all political prisoners and resolve the ongoing crisis through dialogue. Marzouk added that the move would help ease political tension and end violence in the North African country.

Since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, the country has been the scene of demonstrations held by his supporters demanding his reinstatement.

However, hundreds of protesters, mostly Morsi’s supporters, were killed or wounded during the deadly violence that broke out afterwards.

About 1,000 people were killed in a week of violence between Morsi supporters and security forces after police dispersed their protest camps in a deadly operation on August 14.