BICOM

US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have congratulated Mohammed Morsi on his election as Egypt’s president. Unconfirmed reports in the Egyptian press indicated that Clinton may be the first western leader to make an official visit Cairo following the elections. However, Clinton has urged Morsi to engage in the ‘hard work’ of democratic transition and to ensure that his commitment to international obligations include upholding the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.

Negotiations over the composition of the new government are ongoing, with significant international pressure to ensure representation for the Coptic Christian minority, for secular politicians and for the young people who spearheaded the protests that toppled former president Mubarak’s regime.

In a sign that Morsi is keen to maintain relations Egypt’s relations with the West, his office yesterday announced that he has begun proceedings to sue the Iranian news agency Fars for fabricating an interview that indicated he would seek to renew diplomatic ties between Cairo and Teheran.