Egypt's Islamist despot: Obama's been "very helpful"

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November 29, 2012

Egypt's Islamist despot: Obama's been "very helpful"
Posted by Staff

Politico reports:

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, currently under fire at home and abroad for decreeing his actions exempt from judicial review, had high praise on Wednesday for President Obama, whose administration has raised concerns about Morsi's declarations but stopped short of condemning them.

"President Obama has been very helpful, very helpful," Morsi told Time Magazine. "And I can say really that his deeds coincide with his intentions."

Morsi, a critical interlocutor with Hamas, spoke repeatedly with Obama as the parties worked to cement the ceasefire in Gaza.

"We’ve been talking together about the cease-fire, that’s very important," Morsi told Time. "Then we can talk about differences between Palestinians and Israelis. It’s not easy. It’s very difficult. Both sides are talking about differences. We want them to talk about similarities…. We are now doing this job as much as we can."

The White House lavished praise on Morsi for his role in the ceasefire and has appeared to tip-toe around a full condemnation of his apparent power grab since then. Press Secretary Jay Carney has said the administration is "concerned" and has expressed those concerns to Egyptian officials. But asked on Monday if that equated to a condemnation, Carney demurred.

11/29/12 7:34 AM

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