Egypt is neither an ally nor an enemy of the United States, President Barack Obama said Wednesday in the wake of a violent protest at the US embassy in Cairo.
“I don’t think that we would consider them an ally, but we don’t consider them an enemy,” Obama said in excerpts of an interview with Telemundo aired by MSNBC.
Sunlen Miller and Kirit Radia report: President Obama today reiterated that Egypt is an ally of the United States and that the he’s “always said” to President Hosni Mubarak that reform, both politically and economically, is essential for Egypt.
“Egypt’s been an ally of ours on a lot of critical issues,” Obama said from the White House this afternoon, “President Mubarak has been very helpful on a range of tough issues in the Middle East. But I’ve always said to him that making sure that they are moving forward on reform — political reform, economic reform — is absolutely critical to the long-term well being of Egypt.”
Continue reading Obama vs. Obama on whether Egypt is an ally.