Kerry urges Egypt’s el-Sisi to avoid military intervention in politics

US Secretary of State John Kerry is visiting Cairo this week Cairo – Akram Ali US Secretary of State John Kerry has urged the Egyptian Defence Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to stop the country’s military from interfering in national politics. The news comes amid growing calls from opposition parties and Egyptian protestors, who want the military to take over leadership following escalating political unrest in recent months.
Kerry, who is visiting Egypt for the first time in his role as Secretary of State, praised the Egyptian armed forces for preserving stability in the region and reiterated US support for democracy in the country.
Sources at the US embassy in Cairo told Arabstoday that Kerry and el-Sisi's meeting tackled military cooperation between the two countries, with the aim to strengthening Egypt’s military structure.
In another meeting with representatives of Egypt's civil society, including the Ibn Khaldun Centre and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Kerry denied that his government backed President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood for power in Egypt, director of the Ibn Khaldun centre, Dalia Ziada, said. According to Ziada, Kerry argued that diplomatic conventions and international laws make dealings with all political leaderships, including the Muslim Brotherhood, compulsory.
 Ziada went on to say that members demanded international support for Egypt's civil society to maintain its independence, insisting that US aid and trade agreements with Morsi’s government should be linked to ensuring the rights and liberties of the Egyptian public.
 Meanwhile, former Egyptian ambassador in Washington, Nabil Fahmy, told Arabstoday that Kerry's visit endorses Morsi's legitimacy and approves the civil government chosen by the Egyptian people.
 Fahmy also claimed that Kerry urged Egyptian political parties to stand in the upcoming parliamentary elections in order to ensure that the process was democratic, despite persistent rumours that the US expects the Muslim Brotherhood to win regardless.
Kerry will conclude his visit to Cairo on Sunday after meeting a number of politicians and President Mohammed Morsi. Leaders of the opposition party, the National Salvation Front (NSF), Mohammed el-Baradei, Hamdeen Sabbahi and Osama el-Ghazali Harb have all turned down invitations to meet with the senior US diplomat, accusing his calls for joining the elections in April as “interference in Egyptian affairs.”