US scraps military drills with Egypt _ but not aid [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JULIE PACE and NEDRA PICKLER

CHILMARK, Mass. (AP) - President Barack Obama scrapped plans for joint American-Egyptian military exercises Thursday, announcing the first concrete U.S. reaction to the spiraling violence in and around Cairo but stopping well short of withholding $1.3 billion in annual American military aid.

The measured response underscored the Obama administration's concern that revoking financial support could further destabilize Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country and an important U.S. ally in a combustible region. And it was unclear whether the cancellation of the military exercises, known as Bright Star, would have any impact in stemming the violence that threatens the interim Egyptian government's promises of a political transition following the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.

The president, speaking from his rented vacation home on Martha's Vineyard, warned that continued fighting would lead Egypt down a "dangerous path," and he called on both the government and protesters to show restraint. He said that while close engagement with Egypt was in U.S. national security interests, "our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets and rights are being rolled back."

In a statement, Egypt's interim government warned that Obama's statement, "while it's not based on facts ... can empower the violent militant groups' and encourage them in their destabilizing discourse."

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Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130816/DA86N0002.html

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President Barack Obama makes a statement to the media regarding events in Egypt, from his rental vacation home in Chilmark Mass., on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013. The president announced that the US is canceling joint military exercise with Egypt amid violence. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)