CAIRO -?Western and Arab envoys met senior Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat El-Shater on Monday at the jail where he is being held, Egypt's state news agency reported on Monday, contradicting an earlier denial of a visit by the Interior Ministry.

The MENA agency cited an "informed source" as saying the envoys seeking to mediate an end to Egypt's crisis had received permission from the prosecutor general to visit Shater.

"(The delegation) met Shater from 12 (midnight) until 1 a.m.," it said.