Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Fahmy defended Egypt's progress in its political roadmap to US Secretary of State John Kerry, and discussed a number of topics of interest between the two countries in a Friday phone call. Fahmy detailed internal developments in Egypt, with a focus on the implementation of the roadmap that was created after former president Mohamed Morsi was removed from power, according to a press release from the foreign ministry. Fahmy also told Kerry that the Committee of Experts had drafted an amended constitution that would be given to a committee of 50 to approve, and would be followed by a constitutional referendum and elections. The discussion comes at a time in which the status of US aid to Egypt remains vague. On Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed that Egypt had received military aid from the US since Morsi‘s ouster on 3 July; a governmental review of the $1.23bn aid package is ongoing. Psaki added that violence on the ground in Egypt must end in order to "further democracy". The US has called on Egypt to release Morsi, who has been detained since he was removed, and criticised the arrest of the Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Mohamed Badie; White House spokesman Josh Earnest called it "an act that is contrary to a legal system that is insulated from politics."
