CAIRO: US President Barak Obama urged the leader of Egypt's interim ruling military government, Field Marshall Hussein Tantawi, to allow for a successful democratic transition in Egypt and to allow civil society to operate freely, in a phone call on Friday. The two leaders also discussed Egypt's pending loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as regional security issues. The US President said that he “welcomed the historic seating of the lower house of Egypt's Parliament and offered his congratulations to the Egyptian people on taking this important step towards democracy.” Obama was speaking to the results of Egypt's recent lower house parliamentary elections, in which two Islamist parties, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Salafi al-Nour Party. Egypt's economy has suffered severely through a period of political uncertainty in the state after popular uprisings ousted the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak last February. Amid the political upheaval, tourism numbers have significantly dropped, and foreign investment is on a significant downturn as well. Since June, Egypt has engaged in controversial talks with the IMF to secure a loan proposed for around $3.2 billion. The IMF now reportedly hopes to build political consensus in support of the loan among Egypt's leading political groups. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/3TsOC Tags: Barak Obama, Egypt elections, featured, Hussein Tantawi, IMF loan, NGOs Section: Egypt, Latest News
