CAIRO // US Secretary of State John Kerry is in Cairo pressing for reforms during the highest-level American visit to Egypt since the ouster of the country’s first democratically elected president.
The Egyptian military’s removal of Mohammed Morsi in July led the US to suspend hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
It seems the State Department expected a frosty reception for Mr Kerry ahead of Monday’s scheduled start of Morsi’s trial on charges of inciting murder.
The department refused to confirm Kerry’s visit until he landed in Cairo Sunday. Egypt’s official news agency reported the impending trip three days earlier.
The secrecy was unprecedented for a secretary of state’s travel to Egypt — long one of the closest US allies in the Arab world — and highlighted rifts between Washington and Cairo.
* Associated Press
