Reuters – A day before Egypt’s deposed Islamist president goes on trial, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed guarded optimism on Sunday about a return to democracy in the country, as he began a tour partly aimed at easing tensions with Arab powers.
On his first visit to Egypt since the army removed president Mohamed Mursi in July, Kerry called for fair, transparent trials for all citizens. However, he described Cairo as a vital partner, apparently trying to repair relations hurt by a partial freeze in U.S. aid, pending progress on democracy.
Kerry said the relationship between the United States and Egypt should not be defined by aid but by a political and economic partnership.
When Egypt’s first democratically elected president stands trial on Monday, Kerry will already be on the next stage of his trip in Riyadh – where he must also try to soothe Saudi worries about Washington’s positive response to overtures from Iran, and its stand on the war in Syria.
Referring to his recent comment that the Egyptian generals were restoring democracy when they deposed Mursi after mass protests against his rule, Kerry said: “Thus far there are indications that this is what they are intending to do.”
Relations between the United States and Egypt have deteriorated since Mursi’s overthrow, which unleashed violence in which hundreds have died, even though the government has published a “road map” for an eventual return to democracy.
Kerry said the roadmap was “being carried out to the best of our conceptions”.
