Members of a Muslim Brotherhood-led coalition met with an African Union (AU) delegation on Wednesday as part of the AU's talks in Cairo with different Egyptian political parties. A member of the National Alliance to Support Legitimacy (NASL), Omar Azzam, told Ahram Online that the discussion didn't involve any specifics on the upcoming presidential elections or the group's stance towards it. The AU delegation, headed by former Malian president Alpha Omar Konare, met interim President Adly Mansour and former military chief Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi earlier during its visit. Azzam said the AU delegation was keen to discuss recent allegations that the Brotherhood had adopted violence to protest Egypt's interim authorities – a claim the Brotherhood denied in a lengthy statement published on Tuesday, which insisted that its members had always been peaceful. "We appreciate all the [AU's] efforts, but external help can't contribute anything more than creating a suitable environment for Egyptians to reach a solution [to their problems]," Azzam added, explaining that Egyptians need to find a solution independently of outside sources. The two groups also discussed Egypt's membership in the AU in the nearly four-hour meeting. Egypt was suspended from the AU after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July. "No one would be happy with the freezing of their membership, but the reasons that led to this status are still present ... evaluating the conditions on the ground, there's no real development," Azzam said. During their meeting with El-Sisi, the AU delegation expressed its support to Egypt's transitional road map that was announced last July following Morsi's ouster. Soure : Ahram online
