EGYPT: U.S. diplomat urges Egypt to lift emergency laws, release detainees

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A senior U.S. diplomat urged Egypt on Monday to build confidence in its transition to democracy by lifting the country’s emergency law and releasing more detainees.

U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns said Egypt faced ‘a moment of extraordinary promise.’

‘It’s a moment when Egypt has just begun its story of transition to democracy,’ he told Reuters during a visit to Cairo.

‘Along the way, we will continue to encourage concrete steps to build confidence to sustain the momentum of the transition ... through careful preparations of the elections to the further release of detainees to the lifting of emergency law,’ he told Reuters.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske