CAIRO, (Reuters) – The United States said yesterday it would work with other nations to resolve Egypt’s crisis peacefully, injecting new energy into a push to end a bloody standoff since the overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.
A day after saying the army had restored democracy by removing Mursi, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Egyptian authorities to give demonstrators the space to protest in peace – a warning against dispersing pro-Mursi sit-ins.
“We will work very, very hard together with others, in order to bring parties together to find a peaceful resolution that grows the democracy and respects the rights of everybody,” Kerry said before a meeting United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in London.
The meeting appeared to signal a new diplomatic effort to end the crisis in which more than 300 people have been killed.
The army removed Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood from power on July 3 in response to mass protests against his rule.
With the European Union already mediating, the new push will rely on the United Arab Emirates to work with the army-backed interim government and Qatar, which supported the Mursi administration, to liaise with the Brotherhood.
Analysts say civilian members of the interim cabinet are trying to promote a political solution despite resistance from security services that want to crack down on the Brotherhood, encouraged by an outpouring of public anger at the movement.
