First sign of thaw in Egypt's political crisis Mahmoud Mokhtar El-Mahdi, a prominent leader of the purist Salafi Muslim movement, said Gen Sisi had promised there would be no use of force to end the sit-ins so long as they remained peaceful and did not attempt to move out further demonstrations. "I said that they should stop labelling the opposition as terrorists as they make up half of the Egyptian people," he told The Daily Telegraph. Both the interim government and the Brotherhood have in public statements refused to offer any compromise to the other side. The National Defence Council said the current stand-off was not "time-unlimited" and in another sign of the authorities' feeling that they have the upper hand, the public prosecutor announced that an early trial would be held beginning on August 25 against Brotherhood leaders accused of inciting violence against protesters on June 30. Eight people were killed during protests against Mr Morsi's rule when they came under fire from inside the Brotherhood's headquarters on the outskirts of Cairo, which had itself come under attack from a mob. Both sides have come under pressure from a stream of visiting diplomats to find a negotiated solution. William Burns, the US deputy secretary of state, met Gen Sisi yesterday, and Chuck Hagel, the US defence secretary, has been speaking to him regularly by telephone, urging a negotiated solution. In an interview with the Washington Post Gen Sisi expressed frustration at the pressure from the United States. "You left the Egyptians, you turned your back on the Egyptians and they won't forget that," he said.