Morsi’s Wife Addresses Pro-Morsi Protesters In Rare Appearance

Naglaa Mahmoud, wife ousted Egyptian president
Naglaa Mahmoud, wife ousted Egyptian president

Wife of ousted president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi has addressed thousands of his supporters at a protest rally in Cairo, in her first appearance since her husband’s overthrow.

Naglaa Mahmoud, Morsi’s rarely seen wife, made a surprise appearance on stage at the main demonstration in the capital on Thursday, as Morsi supporters celebrated Eid al-Fitr at a site which has been used regularly for protests in Nasr City.

Mahmoud appealed for her husband’s return as the crowds roared, “Returning! Returning!”

“He is coming back, God willing,” she said during her first appearance since the July 3 military coup.

Meanwhile, the US and the European Union have called on all sides in Egypt’s political crisis to end the “dangerous stalemate” after the interim government said foreign mediation efforts had failed.

The joint statement came as the army-installed government repeated its threat to take action against Morsi supporters.

Egypt’s rival political camps held mass rallies in Cairo to celebrate and hold prayers for the Muslim festival of Eid.

Morsi’s children joined their mother at the Nasr City protest camp and called for release of their father.

The Egyptian press initially suggested that Mahmoud was held with her husband in undisclosed location along with one of her children.

She did not say during the rally where she had been since the coup.

Morsi is held with his top aides, several of whom have been transferred over the past days to a prison in southern Cairo.

They face charges including instigating violence in various incidents that led to deadly street violence over one-year-rule of Morsi.