Catherine Ashton arrived in Egypt with her family for a Christmas holiday

Catherine Ashton, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, has begun a family holiday in Egypt

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton arrived in Cairo with her family on Thursday for a Christmas holiday, tourism ministry spokesperson Rasha El-Azazi has said.

"She will head to Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt,", El-Azazi said.

In October, Ashton visited Egypt to meet political forces in an attempt to broach a settlement between the transitional government and the Muslim Brotherhood.

Ashton has visited the country twice since the ouster of the Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

She was the first foreign politician to be allowed to meet with the former president at the undisclosed location in which he was being held by Egyptian security forces.