WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Thursday called off joint US-Egypt military drills which had been scheduled to take place next month to protest the killing of hundreds of protesters in Egypt.
“While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back,” Obama told reporters at his vacation home on Martha’s Vineyard.
Obama urged Egypt’s army-installed authorities to lift a state of emergency and allow peaceful protests but stopped short of suspending $1.3 billion in annual military aid.
The United States informed Egypt it was suspending the Bright Star exercises, which has been scheduled every two years since 1981, Obama said.
On the other hand, at least three people were killed and 55 others injured when hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members marched on Thursday in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, protesting against the Wednesday crackdown on sit-ins in the capital Cairo.
“We will come back again for the sake of our martyrs,” the marchers chanted, referring to the hundreds of protesters killed on Wednesday in the security operation across Egypt.
Earlier, the detention of ousted President Mohamed Morsi, who is being held in an undisclosed location, was extended for another 30 days.
At least 525 persons were killed and almost 3,600 sustained injuries as Egypt descends into chaos following Wednesday’s brutal crackdown by the security forces on massive sit-ins in support of deposed President Mohamed Morsi, the country’s Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The supporters of Mohamed Morsi had been rallying since July 3 demanding his reinstatement.
The ministry said that the majority of victims were killed by gunshots or suffocated in concentrated tear gas clouds.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday called on Egypt’s various political factions to act in their country’s national interests and prevent further escalation of violence in the country.
“We are convinced that the democratic renovation and thorough reform in the interest of all Egyptians is only possible through an encompassing dialogue, a renewal of a political process based on national reconciliation,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
The ministry also warned Russian tourists visiting Egypt to refrain from visiting Cairo and other large cities.
On the other hand, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the UN Security Council to convene quickly and take action over the Egyptian crisis.
“Those who remain silent in the face of this massacre are as guilty as those who carried it out,” Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara.
Moreover, joining an international chorus of condemnation of the violence in Egypt, France called on Egyptian Ambassador Nasser Ahmed Kamel to explain Wednesday’s security crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.
In a statement, French President Hollande urged action “to avoid civil war” in Egypt.
