Kerry Visits Cairo, First High-Level American Visit Since Morsi's Removal

Source: APTN

US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Cairo on Sunday pressing for reforms during the highest-level American visit to Egypt since the ousting of the country's first democratically elected president.

The Egyptian military's removal of Mohammed Morsi in July followed by a harsh crackdown on his protesting supporters led the US to suspend hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

Kerry met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy at the Egyptian capital's Fairmont Towers hotel on Sunday morning.

He was also expected to meet with Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour and army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi, who is also defense minister.

The State Department expected a frosty reception for Kerry, especially with tensions running high on the eve of Monday's scheduled start to Morsi's trial on charges of inciting murder.

US officials said the timing of the trial and Kerry's visit were purely coincidental, but that Kerry was likely to impress upon his hosts the importance of due process and transparency in all judicial proceedings.

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 US allies in the Arab world, and highlighted the deep rifts today between Washington and Cairo.

Egypt was Kerry's first stop on a nine-day tour of the Middle East and Europe.

The trip is widely seen as a damage control mission to ease disagreements between the US and its friends over Syria, Iran and the revelations of widespread US surveillance activities around the globe.

From Egypt, Kerry planned to travel to Saudi Arabia, Poland, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria and Morocco.