Obama Expresses Concern at Egypt Violence
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday expressed concern about clashes in Egypt and called on President Mohamed Morsi to be more "constructive" along with the opposition to end the political crisis.
"We are all looking at the situation there with concern," Obama said in South Africa, adding that the U.S. government had taken steps to ensure the safety of its embassy, consulates and diplomats in Egypt.
"We would urge all parties to make sure they are not engaging in violence and that police and military are showing appropriate restraint," he said.
"Everybody has to denounce violence. We would like to see the opposition and President Morsi engage in a more constructive conversation about to move their country forward."
Obama also said that Washington had consistently supported democracy in Egypt, but "it has been challenging given that there is not a tradition of democracy in Egypt".
Egypt was braced for nationwide protests against Morsi on Sunday to mark the anniversary of his turbulent first year in office after violence at rival demonstrations killed three people, including an American.
Morsi, 62, stands accused by his critics of failing the 2011 revolution that brought him to power and of ignoring nearly half of the electorate of around 50 million who did not vote for him last year.
29 June 2013, 15:51
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No one cares what Obama says anymore ... Half of it everyone knows and the other half are lies ...
29 June 2013, 19:49
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So what Obama is saying that everybody knows is that Egypt's paralysis is the fault of the Mubarak-era judges (whose list of misdeeds is growing and would now put that of Mubarak himself to shame in terms of anti-democratic, anti-rule-of-law values), and the half that is a lie is that he won't admit that his insistence that Morsi respect these judges is nothing but a drone strike, a signature drone strike, on the people of Egypt.
But on the other hand, it is well known that Obama's Chief of Military Policy in the White House is the noted Islamic scholar and military expert, Major Ralph al Thani, the illegitimate son of the new emir of Qatar. Major al Thani is only twelve years old. Obama refuses to only listen to what goes on inside the beltway. His ear is on the world, his eye on the planet. His hopes are on the stars.
