Egypt’s Brotherhood in high-level US talks

CAIRO - Agence France-Presse

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (R) kisses the head of Egyptian Muslim brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie at the Brotherhood headquarters in Cairo. REUTERS photo

The US State Department’s number two was to sit down yesterday with Muslim Brotherhood party leaders, as Egypt prepared to wrap up marathon elections that propelled Islamists to the centre stage of politics.

“It will be the highest-level meeting with any official from the U.S.,” Freedom and Justice Party spokesman Ahmed Sobea said. Burns, who arrived in Cairo late on Tuesday, met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). He is also expected to meet other government officials, political and business leaders as well as activists. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said before the polls that the United States had pursued “limited contacts” with the Brotherhood as Washington was “re-engaging in” a six-year-old policy in light of Egypt’s political changes.