U.S. Mideast Envoy Burns Arrives in Cairo

US Middle East envoy William Burns arrived in Cairo on Friday night, a senior Egyptian official said, as international efforts to resolve Egypt's political crisis ramp up.

Burns, the under secretary of state for the Middle East, has already visited Egypt once since the July 3 ouster of president Mohammed Morsi.

His latest trip comes after EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton visited in a bid to mediate a peaceful solution to the stand-off between Morsi supporters and the army-installed interim government.

EU Middle East envoy Bernardino Leon and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle have also held talks in Cairo this week to urge both sides to reach a compromise.

US Secretary of State John Kerry sparked an uproar among Morsi supporters on Thursday after saying the military was "restoring democracy" when it deposed the the Islamist president.