International
Secretary of State John Kerry kicked off a nine-day tour of the Middle East on Sunday with a visit to Egypt, where he affirmed the country's role as a "vital partner" to the U.S. and addressed a recent decision to curtail military aid to its interim government.
Kerry said relations between the two countries should not be defined by assistance, comments made after the U.S. announced on Oct. 9 that it was suspending the delivery of military equipment and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Egypt.
The suspension came amid concerns that Egypt was losing its foothold on a transition to democracy in the wake of President Mohamed Morsi's ouster on July 9, followed by deadly crackdowns on his supporters.
After a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Kerry met with interim President Adly Mansour and Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, the man who deposed Morsi. Kerry did not bring up the subject of Morsi's trial, on charges of inciting murder, which is scheduled to begin Monday. The deposed president has been detained in secret since his ouster.
At the news conference with Fahmy, Kerry said that the suspension of aid was "not a punishment," but a legal requirement given recent upheaval in the country.
Kerry, the most senior U.S. official to visit Egypt since the army overthrew Morsi, also emphasized the need for fair and transparent trials for all Egyptians.
While acknowledging that Egypt had faced "difficult challenges" and "turbulent years," including in its relationship with the U.S., Kerry urged Egyptians to continue their "march to democracy."
The U.S. is a friend and partner to the Egyptian people and wants to contribute to the country's success, Kerry said.
"The United States believes that the U.S.-Egypt partnership is going to be strongest when Egypt is represented by an inclusive, democratically-elected, civilian government based on rule of law, fundamental freedoms, and an open and competitive economy," Kerry told reporters at Sunday's conference.
Fahmy said Kerry's comments and the roadmap that Egypt's military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi laid out following the military's takeover indicated that "we are all pursuing a resumption of normal relations."
The roadmap includes amending the Islamist-tilted constitution adopted under Morsi last year, holding a national referendum before the end of the year and parliamentary and presidential elections by the spring of 2014.
The State Department had apparently expected a frosty reception for Kerry, especially with tensions running high on the eve of Morsi's trial. The department refused to confirm Kerry's visit until he landed in Cairo, even though Egypt's official news agency reported the impending trip three days earlier.
The secrecy was unprecedented for a secretary of state's travel to Egypt, for decades one of the closest U.S. allies in the Arab world, and highlighted the deep rifts today between Washington and Cairo.
Kerry's last visit to Egypt was in March, when he urged Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-backed government to enact sweeping economic reforms and govern in a more inclusive manner.
Those calls went unheeded. Simmering public unhappiness with his rule boiled over when the powerful Egyptian military deposed Morsi in July and established an interim government.
The Obama administration was caught in a bind over whether to condemn the ouster as a coup and cut the annual $1.3 billion in U.S. military assistance that such a determination would legally require.
The U.S. waffled for months before deciding last month to suspend most big-ticket military aid such as tanks, helicopters and fighter jets, while declining to make a coup determination. The U.S. is also withholding $260 million in budget support to the government.
Egypt is receiving billions of dollars in aid from wealthy Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But Egyptian authorities reacted angrily to the U.S. aid suspension, declaring it a new low point in ties that have been strained since the popular revolt that unseated authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.
Fahmy said last month that U.S.-Egyptian relations were in "turmoil" and warned that the strain could affect the entire Middle East.
With U.S. influence ebbing, Kerry's visit on Sunday was expected to be met with suspicion, if not outright hostility, by Egyptian leaders and a population deeply mistrustful of Washington's motives.
Many Egyptians accuse the Obama administration of taking sides in their domestic political turmoil; American officials adamantly deny it.
Kerry intended to underscore the necessity of democratic transition through a transparent and inclusive constitutional process, and free and fair parliamentary and presidential elections.
Only once progress is made on those, American officials say, will the U.S. consider restoring the suspended aid.
Kerry's trip to the region is widely seen as a damage-control mission to ease disagreements between the U.S. and its friends over Syria, Iran and the revelations of widespread U.S. surveillance activities around the globe.
From Egypt, Kerry plans to travel to Saudi Arabia, Poland, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Morocco.
Al Jazeera and wire services
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