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Kerry in Egypt for Highest-Level American Visit Since Morsi’s Ouster Kerry Says He Sees Signs That Egypt Is on Path to Democracy
(about 4 hours later)
CAIRO — In the highest-level American visit since the Egyptian military removed Mohamed Morsi from power, Secretary of State John Kerry arrived here on Sunday to prod Egypt to move ahead with democratic reforms and to try to improve the United States’ strained relations with Cairo. CAIRO — In the highest-level American visit since the Egyptian military removed President Mohamed Morsi from power, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that Egypt appeared to be on a path toward democracy and emphasized that the Obama administration wanted to improve relations.
The visit comes one day before Mr. Morsi, who has been held incommunicado since he was ousted in July, is to be put on trial on murder charges. Delivering a generally reassuring message, Mr. Kerry noted that Egypt had faced “difficult challenges” and indicated that additional steps needed to be taken to establish an inclusive, civilian-led government.
Mr. Kerry is also the first senior American official to visit since the White House decided last month to withhold the delivery of sophisticated arms as an indicatino of its concern over the Egyptian military’s crackdown on dissenters and its tarnished record on human rights. In a joint news conference with his Egyptian counterpart, however, Mr. Kerry accented the positive.
During his visit, Mr. Kerry will meet with Egypt’s foreign minister, Nabil Fahmy, and with the interim president, Adly Mansour. Asked about comments he made in August in which he said that the intent of Egypt’s generals in ousting Mr. Morsi had been to restore democracy, Mr. Kerry defended the remarks.
Mr. Kerry plans to meet with what the State Department described as “Egyptian civil society leaders.” That meeting, which will not be open to the news media, will be an opportunity for critics of the Egyptian government, and perhaps American policy, to express their concerns. No list of Egyptians invited to the session was provided before Mr. Kerry’s arrival. “Thus far, there are indications that that is what they are intending to do,” he said, referring to the Egyptian military leadership.
Mr. Kerry’s final meeting will be with the powerful defense minister, Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, who spearheaded the ouster of Mr. Morsi. “The road map is being carried out to the best of our perception,” Mr. Kerry added, referring to the plan by Egyptian authorities to conduct a national referendum on an amended constitution and then hold parliamentary and president elections by spring 2014.
“The goal of this discussion is to advocate clearly and directly face to face for the kind of progress that we’re looking for in Egypt,” said a senior State Department official who is traveling with Mr. Kerry. “There are questions we have here and there,” Mr. Kerry said. “I think it is important for all of us, until proven otherwise, to accept that this is the track that Egypt is on and to work to help it to be able to achieve that.”
“Because the Morsi trial happens to be the day after the secretary is going to be there, the secretary will be simply advocating to the government to ensure that all Egyptians are afforded due process, transparency and open trials,” the official added. “As you know, we’ve consistently called for the end to politicized arrests and detentions, and we’ll continue to do that.” Mr. Kerry’s visit, which is part of an eight-nation trip, came one day before Mr. Morsi, who has been held incommunicado since he was ousted in July, was to be put on trial on murder charges.
Mr. Kerry visited Cairo last spring and met with Mr. Morsi in an effort to encourage him to proceed with economic reforms and negotiate seriously with the International Monetary Fund. After that meeting, Mr. Kerry announced he was sufficiently encouraged to authorize the release of millions in American assistance. Mr. Kerry is also the first senior American official to visit since the White House decided last month to withhold the delivery of sophisticated arms to signal its concern over the Egyptian military’s crackdown on dissenters and its tarnished record on human rights.
But American officials assert that Mr. Kerry later became frustrated with Mr. Morsi’s unwillingness or inability to make tough economic decisions. In a visit here lasting several hours, Mr. Kerry met with Nabil Fahmy, Egypt’s foreign minister, and Adly Mansour, the interim president.
After Mr. Morsi was ousted, Mr. Kerry stirred controversy by suggesting that the Egyptian military’s move against him represented an opportunity to restore democracy, a stance that was more forwardleaning than that of the White House. The secretary of state also spoke with human rights advocates and representatives from religious, labor and youth organizations. That meeting, which was not open to the news media, provided an opportunity for civic society leaders to express concerns about the Egyptian government, and perhaps American policy. A list of the Egyptians invited to the session was not provided to reporters.
The Obama administration has refrained from categorizing the Egyptian military’s toppling of Mr. Morsi as a coup, which would trigger a cutoff of foreign assistance. But it has been critical of the brutal crackdown on demonstrators and the detention of Morsi supporters. Mr. Kerry’s final meeting was with Gen. Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi, the minister of defense who spearheaded the ouster of Mr. Morsi.
To signal its concern, the White House in October suspended the delivery of major weapons systems, including Apache helicopters, F-16 warplanes, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and M1-A1 tank parts, and is also withholding about $260 million in support for the Egyptian budget.
But the United States is continuing support for Egypt on counterterrorism programs, including the Egyptian military efforts to secure Sinai, which has become a sanctuary for militants. Washington is also continuing to provide spare parts for weapons in the military’s inventory.
The Obama administration’s partial aid suspension is a modest gesture that has been more than made up for by billions of dollars in assistance from the Saudis, who support the Egyptian military’s crackdown on Mr. Morsi’s party, the Muslim Brotherhood.
The senior State Department official said that the decision on whether to lift the suspension of major weapons deliveries would depend on the Egyptian authorities’ steps to protect human rights, ensure freedom of the press, allow peaceful demonstrations and permit activities by nongovernmental organizations, among other measures.
Since the military takeover, Egypt’s generals have appeared to be immune to American pressure and indifferent to Mr. Kerry’s seeming endorsement of their motivations. They have also complained that the United States has shown favoritism toward Mr. Morsi and his supporters by criticizing the military government’s crackdown on Islamists.Since the military takeover, Egypt’s generals have appeared to be immune to American pressure and indifferent to Mr. Kerry’s seeming endorsement of their motivations. They have also complained that the United States has shown favoritism toward Mr. Morsi and his supporters by criticizing the military government’s crackdown on Islamists.
Thousands of Morsi supporters demonstrated against his arrest on Friday, the start of what they said would be four days of protests. The Obama administration has refrained from categorizing the military’s toppling of Mr. Morsi as a coup, which would trigger a cutoff of its annual assistance package of $1.5 billion. But American officials have been critical of the military’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators and the detention of Morsi supporters.
State Department officials said that Mr. Kerry’s arrival on the day before Mr. Morsi’s trial was coincidental, since the Cairo stop is part of a broader eight-nation trip. To signal its concern, the White House in October suspended the delivery of major weapons systems, including Apache helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, Harpoon anti-ship missiles and parts for M-1 tanks, and is withheld about $260 million in support for the Egyptian budget.
After his talks here, Mr. Kerry will head to Riyadh, where he will try, in a meeting with King Abdullah, to repair the Obama administration’s fraught relationship with Saudi Arabia. At the same time, however, the United States has maintained support for Egypt for counterterrorism programs, including the military’s efforts to secure Sinai, which has become a sanctuary for militants. Other untouched assistance included programs to educate Egyptian military officials in the United States, the shipment of spare parts for many of the weapons in the Egyptian military’s inventory and aid for health care, education and the promotion of businesses in Egypt.
The Saudis have been deeply unhappy with the United States’ lukewarm support for the Syrian opposition, are worried that the White House may be too quick to make concessions in the newly reinvigorated talks with Iran and have also been squarely behind the Egyptian military takeover. A senior State Department official who is traveling with Mr. Kerry said that the decision on whether to lift the suspension of major weapons deliveries would depend on steps by the Egyptian authorities to protect human rights, ensure freedom of the press, allow peaceful demonstrations and permit activities by nongovernmental organizations, among other measures.
Mr. Kerry will also be visiting Israel and Jordan to try to encourage progress in the Middle East peace talks, which has long been his top diplomatic priority. No headway in those negotiations has been announced. But Mr. Kerry sought to play down the decision to withhold some of the assistance temporarily, casting it more as a step that was mandated by Congress than as a move to punish Egypt’s military leaders for removing a democratically elected president.
He will also be making visits to Poland, Algeria and Morocco. “It is not a punishment,” Mr. Kerry said in response to a question from an Egyptian reporter. “It’s a reflection of policy in the United States under our law.”
Mr. Kerry said that he had not spend a lot of time discussing the suspension of the aid in his meeting with Mr. Fahmy and emphasized that the American relationship “should not be defined by assistance.”
After his talks here, Mr. Kerry will head to Saudi Arabia to meet with King Abdullah in an effort to repair the Obama administration’s fraught relationship with the kingdom.
The Saudis have been deeply unhappy with the United States’ lukewarm support for the Syrian opposition. They are also worried that the White House may be too quick to make concessions in the newly reinvigorated talks with Iran and have solidly supported the Egyptian military’s takeover.
Mr. Kerry will also visit Israel and Jordan to try to encourage progress in the Middle East peace talks, which has long been his top diplomatic priority. No headway in those negotiations has been announced, and Mr. Kerry said on Sunday that Israel’s continued settlement activity had “disturbed” many people looking for signs of progress.
He will also make trips to the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco and Poland.

Kareem Fahim contributed reporting.