Egypt diplomacy boosted amid fears of bloodshed at protest camps A diplomatic push to resolve Egypt's political crisis intensified on Monday with the arrival of two US senators to bolster efforts to prevent bloodshed. It came after last week's warning by the army-backed authorities that they would clear two protest camps in Cairo housing thousands of supporters of Mohamed Morsi, the Islamist president ousted by the army last month. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham joined US, European and Arab envoys working on building confidence to allow a deal to emerge between the military-backed government and Mr Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group, several of whose top leaders have been jailed and charged with serious crimes such as incitement to murder. Late on Sunday, William Burns, the US deputy secretary of state, Bernardino Leon, the EU envoy, as well as the foreign ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates visited Khairat al-Shater, the Brotherhood's deputy leader and chief strategist who is in prison. No details emerged from the meeting. As diplomacy gathered pace, Egyptian officials insisted diplomats strive to avoid bloodshed. Their tolerance for the camps was not open-ended but they also appeared to have softened their tone. The interior ministry was quoted as saying on Monday it had postponed plans to clear the camps until political solutions have been exhausted. Adli Mansour, the interim president, told a television programme on Sunday night that the state would disperse the protests "peacefully" but if that did not work, it would not stand by "with its arms folded." Many observers in Egypt and abroad fear that an attempt by the security services to storm the camps could produce a bloodbath, fuelling a civil conflict that could last for years. Diplomats and Egyptian politicians say a deal between the authorities and the Islamists remains elusive, pointing out they are not yet negotiating directly. Sources say the Islamists - whatever they say publicly - now accept that Mr Morsi will not be restored as president but that a huge gulf of distrust remains between the military and the Brotherhood. A potential agreement, diplomats say, would have to include guarantees about the future participation in politics of the Brotherhood, a group that was banned and persecuted for decades before the 2011 revolt allowed it to compete freely in elections. "As a minimum, they can't have all their top people detained," said a western diplomat. Charges for some are minimal and they will have to be dropped and some leaders released. Islamist television channels, which have been shut down, must resume and a way has to be found for a safe exit from the sit-ins. The Brotherhood wants a guaranteed role in the political process and in drafting amendments to the constitution. The religiously-tinged charter was a major bone of contention between the Islamists and secular and liberal groups under Mr Morsi. Mohamed ElBaradei, the Nobel laureate who was appointed vice-president for foreign relations after the ouster of Mr Morsi, has also argued repeatedly for a peaceful resolution, saying that force should be used as a last resort. His stance, and that of others in the government, has made them the butt of smear campaigns in this deeply divided country. Partisan newspaper and television channels hostile to the Islamists have been whipping up public sentiment against the protesters, portraying them as traitors and terrorists and suggesting that those who want to allow the Brotherhood a future role in politics are doing the bidding of foreign powers. Islamists and others say that some of this angry rhetoric reflects the position of a "deep state" encompassing the security establishment, which wants to block any return of the Islamists to politics. In al Watan daily, Hanaa Fathy, a columnist, suggested the authorities should let loose the lions and tigers in the Cairo Zoo against the Islamists in the nearby protest camp to spare the security services the opprobrium of the west if they end the sit-in. "You will see that in the end it will turn out that ElBaradei is an agent of the US and the Europeans," said Ali, a hairdresser. Nasser Mahmoud, who owns a kiosk selling soft drinks and sweets, said the government was not tough enough. It's enough. They should have broken the camps up earlier before they got big but, sadly, they opted to pat them on the back.