Unease in West three weeks after Egypt coup ousts Morsi
Western nations are watching the crisis in Egypt with growing unease, fearing the military's vow to return the nation to democracy may be little more than a fig leaf to mask a prolonged power grab.
The United States has refused to term the army's July 3 overthrow of Egypt's elected president, Mohamed Morsi, a "coup," which would trigger an automatic freeze of some $1.5 billion in aid.
But it did finally send the interim leaders a veiled warning on Wednesday by suspending the delivery of four promised F-16 fighter jets.
Britain also announced last week it was revoking export licenses for equipment used by the military and police, over concerns it could be turned on demonstrators, and has called for "actions and gestures from both sides that will assist in taking the political process forward."
Egypt's interim leaders have laid out a roadmap for a new constitution ahead of fresh elections, but there are conflicting views about whether they will keep that pledge.
Such concerns were further fueled when military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for rallies to give him a mandate to crack down on "terrorism and violence" -- a comment aimed at Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood, which has been organizing mass street demonstrations.
And the military has now set a 48-hour deadline which expires late yesterday after which it will move to decisively deal with "violence and terrorism," according to a statement on a military-linked Facebook account.
"The reality is that Egypt is moving back to a more authoritarian system, with a political class operating under a military umbrella with a fairly high degree of repression against anyone dissenting," David Butter, associate fellow at the British think-tank Chatham House, told AFP.
There has also been palpable concern about the arrests of Muslim Brotherhood leaders and worries over Morsi, who has not been seen in public for more than three weeks.
Furious at being stripped of office, the Islamist Brotherhood has ruled out any participation in talks to pave the way towards democracy.
Many fear the group could now go underground again, waging a political battle from the shadows as it did when it was outlawed under long-time strongman Hosni Mubarak.
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