Скачать или смотреть US Secretary of State and Egyptian Foreign Minister hold news conference

(3 Nov 2013) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Cairo pressing for reforms during the highest-level American visit to Egypt since the removal of the country's first democratically elected president in early July.
The Egyptian military's removal of Mohammed Morsi led the U.S. to suspend hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
Kerry held out the prospect of resumptions in the aid as Egypt makes progress in restoring civilian democratic rule and ensuring the protection of basic human rights, including respect for freedom of expression, religion and the press.
"But I want to make it clear that the United States will continue to provide its support that directly benefits the Egyptian people in health, in scholarships, in private sector development. And we are continuing assistance to help secure Egypt's borders to work with the military, to work on counter terrorism and proliferation, and to ensure the security in the Sinai," Kerry said.
The State Department expected a frosty reception for Kerry ahead of Monday's scheduled start to Morsi's trial on charges of inciting murder.
Kerry spoke of the importance of all trials being transparent and respecting the rule of law but did not specifically mention the case against Morsi.
"Minister Fahmy and I agreed on the need to ensure that Egyptians are afforded due process with fair and transparent trials, civilians tried in a civilian court," he said.
The department refused to confirm Kerry's visit until he landed in Cairo on Sunday.
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 - long one of the closest U.S. allies in the Arab world - and highlighted rifts between Washington and Cairo.
Kerry last was in Egypt in March, when he urged Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood-backed government to enact sweeping economic reforms and govern in a more inclusive manner. Those calls went unheeded.
The Obama administration was caught in a bind over whether to condemn the ousting as a coup and cut the annual 1.3 billion US dollars in U.S. military assistance that such a determination would legally require.
The U.S. hesitated for months before deciding last month to suspend most big-ticket military aid such as tanks, helicopters and fighter jets, while declining to make a coup determination.
The U.S. also is withholding 260 million US dollars in budget support to the government.
Egypt is receiving billions of dollars in aid from wealthy Gulf Arab states such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Egyptian authorities reacted angrily to the U.S. aid suspension, declaring it a new low point in ties that have been strained since the popular revolt that unseated authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak in February 2011.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...