[ 2013-11-03 ]

Kerry vows US backing for Egypt interim rulers
Cairo (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry
said Sunday his country is committed to working
with Egypt's interim rulers, on his first visit to
Cairo since the army ousted president Mohamed
Morsi.

On the eve of the opening of Morsi's trial, Kerry
was in Cairo to shore up ties with a key ally and
ensure it moves ahead on plans to restore
democracy just weeks after Washington suspended
aid to the country.

"We are committed to work and we will continue our
cooperation with the interim government," Kerry
told a joint news conference with Egyptian foreign
minister Nabil Fahmy, urging "inclusive, free and
fair elections".

"The United States is a friend of the people of
Egypt, of the country of Egypt, and we are a
partner," he said.

Kerry also played down Washington's suspension
just weeks ago of part of its $1.5 billion in
annual aid to Cairo.

"US-Egyptian relations should not be defined by
assistance," Kerry said, adding direct aid would
continue to Egyptians and to help efforts to
"counter terrorism".

In a move that angered Cairo, Washington last
month said it was "recalibrating" aid to Egypt --
including about $1.3 billion for military
assistance -- and suspending delivery of items
like Apache helicopters and F-16 aircraft.

Kerry -- the most senior figure of the US
administration to visit since Morsi's July ouster
-- will also meet interim president Adly Mansour
and powerful military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The top US diplomat said Washington believed "the
US-Egypt partnership will be strongest when Egypt
is represented by a democratically elected
government".

He condemned violence since Morsi's ouster, but
said nothing about Morsi himself.

"I want to say very, very, very clearly: the
United States condemns all acts of violence...
against churches, against worshippers... in Sinai
... in the streets of the country," Kerry said.

More than 1,000 people have been killed in Egypt
as security forces engage in a sweeping crackdown
against supporters of Morsi who have tried to
stage near daily protests against the Islamist
president's ouster.

'Egypt positive'

Fahmy, who has previously criticised the aid
suspension, offered a more upbeat assessment of
US-Egyptian ties on Sunday.

"I said a few days ago that Egyptian-American
relations were tense, and I believe after my talks
with the US secretary of state today that there
are good indications that we seek to resume these
relations in a positive manner," said Fahmy.

The United States had for three decades supported
Morsi's predecessor Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted
by a popular uprising in 2011, relying on Egypt to
help maintain stability in the volatile region.

Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood member who became
Egypt's first democratically elected president,
was toppled by the military on July 3 after a
single turbulent year in power that deeply
polarised Egyptians.

According to the interim government's timetable,
parliamentary elections are to be held by mid-2014
followed by presidential polls.

Kerry's visit is the first stop on a packed 12-day
trip which will also take in Saudi Arabia, Israel,
Bethlehem, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates,
Algeria and Morocco.

The aim of squeezing in a Cairo stop was to
examine progress on "issues that are important to
the United States" such as freedom of assembly and
the press, protection of minorities, the
participation of civil society and human rights.

The US would be informed by "a constant review of
progress to help us understand how well the
Egyptians are moving along their roadmap (and)
when it's appropriate to lift some of the holds
that we have on the equipment," a senior State
Department official said.

The timing of the visit is awkward however, coming
on the eve of Morsi's trial, with 14 others, on
charges of inciting the murder of protesters
outside the presidential palace in December 2012.

Washington has called for Morsi's release and an
end to politically motivated trials but has also
stopped short of denouncing his ouster as a coup.

"Mr Morsi proved unwilling or unable to govern
inclusively, alienating many Egyptians," Acting
Assistant Secretary Beth Jones said last week.

The military had responded to "the desires of
millions of Egyptians who believed the revolution
had taken a wrong turn," she added.

Source - AFP

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