France on Wednesday condemned as "an odious act" fresh reports of violence and sexual assault against women in Cairo's Tahrir Square, which has been the scene of such attacks during mass rallies for some time.
Reports of a multiple assaults on Sunday, during celebrations for the Egyptian Presidency, have cast a pall on the parades and Egyptian police have arrested close to 30 people in relation to the attacks.
"It is an odious act which we condemn" Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said of the sexual assaults.
Expressing solidarity with the victims and their families, Nadal said that France's Human Rights Ambassador had met with women's rights groups in Egypt late last year and the question of sexual violence was addressed.
"France welcomes the commitment of the Egyptian authorities, at the highest level, to identify those responsible for this act and have them brought to justice," Nadal said.
He also called on Egypt to implement legislation voted June 5 to counter this kind of behaviour