US gives seal of approval to Egypt's new leaders

Supporters of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi prepared for confrontation yesterday, and the United States said Egypt's military had been "restoring democracy" when it drove him from office.
The US message is a big boost for the new civilian government installed by the military, which had previously given mixed messages about events in a country that has long been a bulwark of Washington's Middle East policy.
"The military was asked to intervene by millions and millions of people, all of whom were afraid of a descendance into chaos, into violence," US Secretary of State John Kerry told Pakistan's GEO TV.
"And the military did not take over, to the best of our judgment so - so far."
The United States has avoided calling Morsi's overthrow a "coup" - a move that would have triggered a cut-off in the $1.3 billion of US aid the Egyptian military receives each year.
Kerry has however called on Egypt to respect the right of peaceful protest, including the pro-Morsi rallies.
Thousands were gathered in two Muslim Brotherhood camps in Cairo, defying warnings from the new army-backed government to abandon their protest or face action from security forces.
At the main Rabaa al-Adawiya camp, young men wearing crash helmets and brandishing sticks mounted a first line of defence behind barricades of sandbags and bricks.
International diplomats, rights groups and Egyptian religious leaders appealed to authorities to avoid bloodshed.
Political sources said there had been intense debate within the cabinet on the wisdom of the security forces taking action.
Almost 300 people have died in political violence since Morsi was overthrown on July 3, including 80 of his supporters shot dead by security forces in a single incident last Saturday.
Morsi, an Islamist who became Egypt's first freely-elected president in June 2011, had faced weeks of street demonstrations against his rule.
The turmoil has left Egypt more polarised than at any time since US-backed autocrat Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011.