Senior US diplomat leaves Cairo after key visit

US Deputy Secretary of State William  Burns leftCairo early after concluding the first visit by a senior US official since Egypt's military ousted elected president Mohammad Morsi on July 3. Burns met interim President Adly Mansour, Premier-designate Hazem al-Beblawi and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Talks dwell on the situation in Egypt and the military-backed roadmap, sources with the US Embassy in Cairo told the Anadolu Agency. The powerful army ousted Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, on July 3 following mass protests against his regime. It suspended the constitution and named the head of the constitutional court as interim president. Thousands of Morsi supporters have since taken to the streets nationwide in mass demonstrations and sit-ins to defend his legitimacy and demand his reinstatement. While countries like Turkey and Tunisia describe what happened as a military coup, the Obama administration has avoided the term because under US laws that means automatic and immediate halt to the $1.3 billion Egypt gets every year in military aid. But Washington has called for the release of Morsi, who has not been seen in public ever since his ouster and his whereabouts remains under wraps.