The European Union said Monday its election monitoring team will oversee Egypt elections slated to begin next week. The Union had earlier said that the mission was abolished due to confiscation of its equipment by the government authorities
The EU announced Saturday that the mission was cancelled because it was unable to send the monitoring equipment to Cairo to observe the much anticipated elections on May 26 and May 27. Ahram Online reports that customs department at Egypt confiscated the European Observation Mission's telecommunication gear and medical kit.
"The European Union observer mission is able to continue (its mission). However, it will have to make adjustments," Mario David, the head of the EU observer mission, reports Agence France-Presse.
"All our equipment has been released from customs," David said, adding, "There were no more problems."
The EU had already sent a team of 45 observers to Cairo and would also set up more teams throughout the country, the EU parliamentarian from Portugal said.
David also clarified that observing the election did not mean that the EU legitimized or validated the elections.
Mohammad Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood leader and Egypt's ex-president's ouster has led to mass trials and death sentences of his sympathizers. More than 15,000 people have been arrested and at least a 1000 have been ordered to the gallows.
Morsi was Egypt's first democratically elected president.
The much awaited polls will see a face-off between former army chief Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi. Sisi, who is a favorite for the presidential post, said in a recent interview with Sky News Arabia that he would improve the country's situation within two years and would step down if people protested against him.
