Obama stresses support for democracy in Egypt

President Barack Obama stressed U.S. support for Egypt’s move to democracy and discussed its International Monetary Fund talks in a telephone conversation on Friday with Egyptian military council chief Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the White House said.

“The President reinforced the necessity of upholding universal principles and emphasized the important role that civil society, including non-governmental organizations, have in a democratic society,” the White House said in a statement, according to Reuters. “He underscored that non-governmental organizations should be able to operate freely.”

Washington was sharply critical earlier this month of raids by Egyptian authorities on pro-democracy groups, but laid the blame on remnants of former President Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled from power last year by massive street protests.

Egyptian authorities swooped in on 17 non-governmental groups, including the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute, which are both loosely affiliated with the leading U.S. political parties.

(Obama) “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,” the White House statement said, according to AFP.

“The two leaders discussed Egypt’s economic situation and the ongoing discussions between Egypt and the International Monetary Fund on an economic program that can garner the broad support of the Egyptian people.”

The IMF said this week that Egypt was seeking to build a political consensus in favor of a much-needed financial support program worth around $3.2 billion designed to create a strong economic recovery.

The economy and government finances have deeply suffered, especially from the loss of tourism income, since the uprising early last year that led to former president Mubarak’s ouster.

Islamists are poised to dominate Egypt’s first parliament since the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak, and Washington has been testing the views of the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest group, on Egypt's 1979 peace deal with Israel.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who negotiated the 1978 Camp David accords, said last week that Islamist parties had promised to honor the document, which is the foundation of regional security and American foreign policy in the region.