US ‘monitoring the situation’ following Morsi's death

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. on Monday offered little reaction to the passing of Mohamed Morsi, the first democratically-elected president of Egypt.

"We are aware of the reports of the passing of Egypt’s former President Mohamed Morsi and are monitoring the situation," a State Department official told Anadolu Agency on condition of anonymity.

When asked about Morsi's death during Monday's press briefing, spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the agency "saw that the death was reported."

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

Following 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.

Since his ouster, Egypt’s post-coup authorities have waged a relentless crackdown on dissent, killing hundreds of the former president’s supporters and throwing thousands in jail on “violence” charges.

Shortly after the coup, Morsi’s party, the Muslim Brotherhood was officially designated a “terrorist organization” in Egypt.