Clinton urges talks amid Cairo crisis

[iolsa]

Hanoi - American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday called for talks among all those involved in a showdown between the Egyptian parliament and the military to bring an end to the country's political crisis.

"We urge that there be intensive dialogue among all of the stakeholders in order to ensure that there is a clear path for them to be following," she told a news conference after talks in Vietnam.

The Egyptian people should "get what they protested for and what they voted for, which is a fully-elected government making the decisions for the country going forward", she added.

Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament convened on Tuesday in defiance of the powerful military and the judiciary, following a decree by newly-elected President Mohamed Morsi to reinstate the assembly.

Last month, the Supreme Constitutional Court had said certain articles in the law governing the parliamentary elections were invalid, annulling the Islamist-led house.

"We are gathered today to review the court rulings, the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," speaker Saad al-Katatni said.

"I want to stress, we are not contradicting the ruling, but looking at a mechanism for the implementation of the ruling of the respected court. There is no other agenda today," he added.

Clinton, who is currently visiting Vietnam as part of a tour of Southeast Asia, will travel to Egypt at the weekend to meet with Morsi. She said she would also be meeting with a broad section of people from across Egyptian society.

"We strongly urge dialogue and a concerted effort on the part of  all to try to deal with the problems, that are understandable but have to be resolved in order to avoid any kind of difficulties that  could derail the transition," she said.

She added it was "important to underscore that democracy is not just about elections".

"It is about creating a vibrant, inclusive political dialogue, listening to civil societies, having good relations between civilian officials and military officials, where each is working to serve the interests of the citizens."

Islamists scored a crushing victory in three-stage parliamentary elections held from November last year, with the Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's former organisation, heading the lower house.

But the military dissolved parliament last month after the top court made its controversial ruling a day before the second round of the presidential poll that saw Morsi become Egypt's first democratically elected head of state.

Clinton pledged: "The United States remains committed to working with Egypt, both government and civil society, to assist it in completing the democratic transition."

Pressed by reporters if Washington was concerned about a potential derailment of the democratic process in Egypt, State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said: "Clearly, anything that would derail the transition would be a worry." - Sapa-AFP



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