Egyptian govt to say mediation failed

CAIRO - The chances for a negotiated end to Egypt's political crisis looked to have hit the rocks on Tuesday with the army-installed government reportedly ready to declare that foreign mediation efforts had failed.

Egypt's interim Vice-President Mohamed ElBaradei (3rd R) meets with US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham (4th, and 6th L), in Cairo in this handout picture dated August 6, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

State-run Al-Ahram newspaper, citing official sources, said the government would make an announcement to that effect soon.

It would also declare that Muslim Brotherhood protests against the army's overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi were non-peaceful - a signal that the government intends to end them by force.

The report appeared hours after two senior US senators on a mediation mission said they considered Mursi's removal to have been a military coup - causing an uproar in the Egyptian media and drawing a strong riposte from the acting president.

The Republican senators - Lindsey Graham and John McCain -  also called on the military to release political prisoners and start a national dialogue to return Egypt to democratic rule.

State television cited acting President Adly Mansour as calling McCain's comments "an unacceptable interference in internal policies".

Many Egyptian private TV stations' talk shows also reacted furiously. Lamis al-Hadid of CBC TV called them a "big insult to Egypt and its people".

Egypt has been in turmoil since Mursi's overthrow on July 3, following huge demonstrations against his rule.

The country's first freely elected president, Mursi is now being detained at an undisclosed location and thousands of his supporters remain camped out at two protest sites in Cairo.