“President Mursi made clear he understands the success of his presidency and Egypt’s transition depends on building consensus across Egypt’s political spectrum; to work on a new constitution’ to protect civil society; to draft a new constitution that will be respected by all and to assert the full authority of the presidency,” Clinton said.
As the two met, several hundred protesters gathered outside the U.S. embassy in Cairo to denounce what they said was “U.S. interference in domestic affairs,” the official MENA news agency reported.
Before the meeting, a top State Department official told reporters that Clinton will in her talks also focus on the protection of religious minorities and of women.
She will “stress her deep belief that Egypt’s democracy can only be successful, and the aspirations of the revolution can only be redeemed if the rights of all Egyptians are protected, including the rights of minorities, including religious minorities and the rights of women,” the official said.
The post-revolution rise of the Islamists has raised fears among women and among the country’s 10-million-strong Christian community concerning the guarantee of personal freedoms.
Islamists scored a crushing victory in three-stage parliamentary elections held from November last year, with the Muslim Brotherhood — from which Mursi stepped down before he was sworn in — heading the lower house.
Treatment of women is something Clinton “certainly worries about and wants to make sure that women’s rights and women’s opportunities are respected and protected in a new constitution and a new democratic order,” said the official.
Mursi has repeatedly pledged to be a president for “all Egyptians” and said he would appoint a woman and a Christian as his deputies.
The past year-and-a-half of turmoil has frightened away tourists, sent investors fleeing and wrecked economic growth. Egyptians need their leaders to set aside their political quarrel fast.
Asked why the Muslim Brotherhood should be interested in working with the United States, a senior U.S. official argued the two countries have a shared interest in strengthening Egypt’s economy and in maintaining peace and security.
During Mubarak’s rule, which was supported by the United States, he imprisoned many of its leaders and assiduously worked to marginalize the group.
Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel has been a cornerstone of regional security for a generation and ushered in an era of extensive U.S. foreign aid to Egypt, now running at about $1.55 billion a year.
During the Cairo visit, Clinton will also seek assurances that its key Middle East ally will continue to press for regional security and uphold the peace treaty with Israel.
“More than three decades ago, Egypt and Israel signed a treaty that has allowed a generation to grow up without knowing war and on this foundation, we will work together to build a just comprehensive regional peace in the Middle East,” Clinton said.
In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel.