UPDATE – World reacts to Mohamed Morsi's martyrdom

UPDATES WITH MORE REACTIONS

By Mahmoud Barakat, Mohamed al-Bakay , Khaled Majdoub and Adil Essabiti

ANKARA (AA) – The international community mourned the martyrdom of Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, who died Monday during a court appearance to face charges many believed were politically motivated.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wished God's mercy for Morsi, whom he called "a martyr who died struggling for his cause", adding history will never forget the tyrants who caused his martyrdom.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Morsi will be remembered as "an exceptional person in his country's struggle for democracy".

Funeral prayers for Morsi will be held Tuesday in mosques across Turkey, the Religious Affairs Directorate said late Monday.

“In front of Allah, my father and we shall unite,” his son, Ahmed, said in a Facebook post.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani also mourned Morsi.

"We received with deep sorrow the news of the sudden death of former President Mohamed Morsi."

Al Thani offered condolences to Morsi's family and the Egyptian people.

Prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi said Morsi suffered a lot while languishing in prison.

Morsi "died with patience over his suffering in his jail," al-Qaradawi said, praying to God to accept him as a martyr.

The Tunisian Ennahda Movement said it had received the news with great sadness and shock and extended condolences to Morsi's family and the Egyptian people.

The movement expressed hope that "the painful incident would be a reason to put an end to the suffering of thousands of political prisoners in Egypt" and for starting dialogue for a new democratic political life.

Former Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki also mourned the ex-leader, saying Morsi will always be remembered.

"The death of martyred President Mohamed Morsi in the tragic circumstances we have witnessed is evidence of his strength, courage, humanity and commitment to his ethics and positions till his last breath," he said on Facebook.

"It's also evidence of the lack of a minimum level of dignity, nobility and knighthood among his opponents."

-International probe

Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood held "the coup authorities in Egypt responsible for Morsi's death after his detention for seven years in solitary imprisonment".

The group also held the international community responsible for "the crimes of the coup" in Egypt.

Palestinian group Hamas mourned Morsi and hailed his efforts in serving the Palestinian cause.

"Morsi engaged in a long struggle for Egypt, its people and the nation's issues, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause,” it said.

He also made great efforts in defending Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque as a member of Egypt’s parliament, it added, offering condolences to Egypt, its people and his family.

At Al-Aqsa Mosque, dozens of Palestinians held funeral prayers for Morsi.

Dozens demonstrated outside the Egyptian Embassy in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, calling for an international probe into Morsi's death circumstances.

In Libya, Mohamed al-Amari, a member of the UN-recognized Libyan Presidential Council, described Morsi as a martyr, adding he had "set an example for his patience, steadfastness and adherence to his principles".

On his Facebook page, Amari expressed his condolences to Morsi’s family, the "free people of Egypt" and "liberation revolutions" in all Arab countries.

Abderrazak Makri, the leader of Algeria's largest Islamic party, the Movement for the Society of Peace, mourned the "oppressed legitimate Egyptian president".

"On behalf of the movement's institutions and activists, I extend our sincere condolences to the family of the legitimate Egyptian president, who was overthrown, to his brothers in the Freedom and Justice Party and to the Egyptian people," he said.

Sudan's Popular Congress Party expressed condolences to the "Arab and Islamic nation and the Egyptian people" over Morsi's martyrdom.

It stressed that Morsi spent "six years of imprisonment and was deprived of his basic and human rights".

Mohamed Mahsoub, who served as minister of state for parliamentary affairs during Morsi's presidency, said "we are facing a new murder case: the murder of the only president elected by the Egyptian people in their history".

He said it was the murder of freedom of choice in order to “keep Egypt's future bound to the will of a tyrant or the decision of a dictator".

Human Rights Watch also commented on Morsi's martyrdom, saying it was “predictable".

"Morsi's death is terrible but entirely predictable, given gov't failure to allow him adequate medical care," Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the organization’s Middle East and North Africa Division, said on Twitter.

Hamdeen Sabahi, a former candidate in Egypt’s presidential elections, also conveyed his condolences.

“I ask God to welcome him in his vast paradise, accept his kindness, ignore his mistakes, and give patience to his loved ones.”

Prince Moulay Hicham of Morocco and the first cousin of King Mohammed VI said Morsi's situation was "the tragedy of all
Egyptians demanding democracy, who were either tortured, forcibly disappeared, detained or exiled".

"President Morsi died as a result of systematic neglect to which he was subjected in prison," he said in a Facebook post.

Malaysia said it was looking forward to a thorough report from the Egyptian government on the cause of Morsi's death.

"We acknowledge the statement by Egypt's public prosecutor, however, we are concerned with numerous reports by human rights bodies about the treatment of Morsi prior to his passing,” Deputy Prime Minister Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said on Twitter.

Ismail said Morsi was the first democratically-elected President of Egypt following the 2011 Arab Spring revolution.

"During his tenure as President, Mr Morsi showed courage and moral fortitude in his attempt to lead Egypt away from decades of authoritarian rule and establish true democracy there,” she said.

A leading member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood group, Morsi won Egypt's first free presidential election in 2012.

After only one year in office, however, he was ousted and imprisoned in a bloody military coup led by Egypt's then defense minister and current president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

At the time of his death, Morsi faced a host of legal charges, which he, along with numerous human rights groups and independent observers, said were politically motivated.