CAIRO: In what appears to be a massive policy shift by the United States toward Egypt, American President Barack Obama was quoted as saying in an interview with Spanish-language network Telemundo as saying Egypt is not an ally nor an enemy of the US. This would be a major shift in official policy, as since the before the Egyptian uprising ousted former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and after, American officials have repeatedly spoken of the importance of their ally in Egypt. “I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy,” Obama said the interview, which saw clips aired on the American network MSNBC. His comments come less than two days after the embassy in Cairo was attacked and a consulate in Libya was stormed. In Egypt, protesters climbed the US Embassy's wall and took down the American flag, replacing it with an Islamic flag that read: “There is no God but God and Mohamed is His Messenger." While the Egyptian protesters remained nonviolent, in Libya's Benghazi, violent attacks took place against the American consulate in the city, which left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other American staffers dead. It also comes less than two weeks before Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi is scheduled to arrive in Washington for talks with Obama. Egypt President Mohamed Morsi spoke out in condemnation at the attack on the United States Embassy in Cairo on Thursday, saying violence has no place in protests. He also said he would work to ensure the safety of foreigners in the country after anti-American sentiment has grown dramatically over the past few days. “Expressing opinion, freedom to protest and announcing positions is guaranteed but without assaulting private or public property, diplomatic missions or embassies," said Morsi in his first comments on the attack on the embassy. “Certainly in this situation, what we're going to expect is that they are responsive to our insistence that our embassy is protected, our personnel are protected,” Obama said. “And if they take actions that indicate they're not taking those responsibilities, as all other countries do where we have embassies, I think that's going to be a real big problem.” Calling it a “work in progress,” Obama said the new government was “trying to find its way” and noted it was democratically elected.
