Clinton reassures Egypt’s Mursi on US assistance

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reassured Egypt’s new Islamist president on Monday that the United States would forge ahead with plans to expand economic assistance despite anti-American protests that cast new shadows over U.S. engagement with the region.Clinton met Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in New York, where both are attending this week’s U.N. General Assembly meeting, and reinforced the Obama administration’s continued commitment to provide both military and economic aid for Cairo, a senior State Department official said.“What he heard from the secretary is that she is committed to following through on what she has said we will do,” the official said following the 45-minute meeting.U.S. officials said earlier this month they were close to a deal with Egypt’s new government for $1 billion in debt relief to help Cairo shore up its ailing economy in the aftermath of its pro-democracy uprising, which ousted autocratic President Hosni Mubarak.The aid package had languished during Egypt’s 18 months of political turmoil and progress appeared to reflect a cautious easing of U.S. suspicions about Mursi, who was elected in June.Egypt was among the countries swept by violent anti-American protests over an anti-Islam video made in California, and some U.S. lawmakers have raised questions about the future of U.S. assistance to the region, particularly given sharp budget constraints at home.The senior official said Clinton, who has personally lobbied lawmakers to keep U.S. aid to Egypt and other Arab countries on track, believed these concerns had been laid to rest.“Of course we understand that there may be (of Congress) who have questioned (the aid), but there is strong bipartisan support for Egypt being a democratic success because it’s in our national security interest that that occur,” the official said.