Foreign Minister Bob Carr has called for the release of political prisoners, including former President Mohamed Morsi, to encourage the Muslim Brotherhood to participate in peace talks.
In an interview with SBS News, the senator said police reconciliation is urgently needed in Egypt before the nation falls into civil war.
“You need a process to give the Muslim Brotherhood, displaced from power, a reason to participate and get into the political system,” he said.
"One part of that is the release of the political prisoners, including President Morsi himself. In exchange for that you could contemplate an end to political demonstrations."
Senator Carr said that Egypt and the international community must be careful how the current violence is dealt with, to prevent Egyptians from losing faith in democracy.
“We've got to work to prevent something as pessimistic as that vision from eventuating. We've got to do all we can to encourage people in the Arab world to contemplate that democracy can work.”
