American senators to visit Egypt

Within the framework of efforts by the United States government respond to the political changes occurring in Egypt, Senator Lindsey Graham of the Republican Party told American television channel CBS News, “the president asked Senator [John] McCain and myself to go to Egypt next week, so we're trying to find a way to get there.”

“So we can go over and reinforce in a bipartisan fashion the message that we have to move to civilian control, that the military is going to have to, you know, allow the country to have new elections and move toward an inclusive, democratic approach,” he said.

Graham also assured the CBS News, that both he and McCain are going to speak to leaders of the Armed Forces and political figures, as well as figures from the Muslim Brotherhood, he hopes. One of the goals, he said, was to send a unified message that “jailing the opposition is more and more like a coup.” He called for the military to hand over control to a civilian government “as fast as possible.”

American Congress has been debating the subject of military aid. Should what happened in Egypt be classified as a coup, American law dictates that aid should cease.

“The days of supporting friendly dictators or military regimes are behind us,” Graham said, “the Arab spring is real. I'm glad the president asked. We'll try to deliver a bipartisan message. We'll try to bring out the best in the future in Egypt before it's too late."

With regard to aid, Graham said, “If you cut off aid, that's a destabilizing event, while a vote for aid would give people the impression everything's fine.” He also pointed out that this problem is still under discussion in Congress and such a decision will depend on the speed of transition to elected civilian rule.

Obama communicated to interim President Adly Mansour on Saturday, saying that the American government will continue to support the Egyptian people on both political and economic levels. This has been described by some observers as the start of American acceptance with regard to recent developments in Egypt, after the confusion of initial statements by some American officials following the deposing and sidelining of Morsi.  

“I do agree we need to comply with laws that we have in our country,” he told reporters, adding that Congress may change the coup restrictions in September to give the president waiver authority to continue providing aid. “Right now, in the middle of this volatile situation, we need to be a voice of calm.”