France, Britain ask for emergency UN Council meet on Egypt, diplomats say

UNITED NATIONS, United States - Agence France-Presse

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, presides over a meeting of the UN Security Council on July 25, 2013 in New York City. John Moore/AFP photo

France, Britain and Australia jointly requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the deadly violence in Egypt, diplomats said Thursday.

The meeting -- which would be closed-door consultations -- could take place later in the day, they said.

The request comes one day after a bloody crackdown by Egyptian security forces on protesters backing the deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, which left more than 500 people dead.

France, Britain and Australia are three of the 15 countries currently sitting on the Security Council. France and Britain are permanent members.

One diplomat said that the joint request had been submitted to Argentina, which currently presides over the council. The diplomat added that a Council statement was not likely.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the crackdown, and UN rights chief Navi Pillay demanded that a wide-ranging probe be carried out.

Earlier Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called for an urgent Security Council meeting.

"This is a very serious massacre... against the Egyptian people who were only protesting peacefully," Erdoğan said, criticizing "the silence" of the global community in the face of the bloodshed.