Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived at Cairo International Airport on Saturday.
CAIRO — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton landed here on Saturday to meet for the first time with the Egypt’s new president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood.
State Department officials said on Saturday that Mrs. Clinton’s visit was meant to demonstrate American recognition of Egypt’s first democratically elected president. It will also continue the tentative mutual outreach between the Obama administration and the Muslim Brotherhood, the 84-year-old progenitor of Islamic political movements and historically a sharp critic of American policy in the region.
But Mrs. Clinton is arriving at a delicate moment, in the midst of the showdown between Mr. Morsi and Egypt’s top generals. The generals, who took over at the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, dissolved Parliament and tightened their grip on power on the eve of Mr. Morsi’s election, are digging in just at the moment that they had pledged to transfer control to civilians. And last week Mr. Morsi sought to assert his own authority as president by issuing a decree reinstating the legislature, starting a new skirmish in a struggle for power that is still playing out in the courts and the streets.
And while many Americans may still be surprised to see Mrs. Clinton shaking hands with an Egyptian president from the Muslim Brotherhood, she now faces protests here called by Egyptian Christians and secular politicians who are accusing Washington, implausibly, of conspiring with the Brotherhood to help the Islamist take power from the generals.
Mrs. Clinton is scheduled to meet on Saturday with Mr. Morsi and on Sunday with the top military leader, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.
In brief remarks before a news conference on Saturday, Mrs. Clinton is expected to gently reiterate American support for a swift transition to civilian democracy. State Department officials said she would press the same point with Field Marshal Tantawi on Sunday.
Mrs. Clinton is expected to discuss with Mr. Morsi his previously stated commitments to uphold Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel as well as to protect individual and minority rights. She and her aides will also work with their Egyptian counterparts on ironing out the details of a major economic aid package that President Obama promised a year ago and that Egypt now desperately needs.
But in a polarized political climate, with sensitivity to the perception of American interference running high, State Department officials say she will avoid any bold statements for fear of setting off a counterproductive reaction.
