Egypt (and Beyond) Live Coverage: President Morsi Appeals to Security Forces

1304 GMT: Egypt. The European Union's Parliament has passed a resolution threatening to withhold budget support to Egypt if it does not take significant steps to abide by human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

The EU allocated 5 billion Euros in aid to Cairo for 2012-2013, conditional on respect of human rights, democracy and economic governance.

Parliament called for promotion of civil society, women's rights, and minority rights. It expressed alarm at the rise in violence directed towards women in Egypt, particularly female protesters and women's rights activists, and demanded the abolition of all laws granting police and security forces the right to use unmitigated violence against civilians.

Members also called for Egypt's judiciary to commute 21 death sentences handed down on 26 January over the deaths of 74 football fans in Port Said's stadium in February 201.

The EU body supported the Egyptian electoral commission's decision to postpone Parliamentary elections, following a court decision suspending the process, and called on the Government to use the opportunity to work on building political consensus ahead of the elections.

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