U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy in Cairo on Saturday.
- Secretary of State Clinton is meeting with the head of Egypt's military council
- Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi is a career infantry officer
- She met President Morsy a day earlier and urged him to assert his authority
Cairo (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was due to meet Sunday with the head of Egypt's military leadership, a day after she urged the country's first democratically elected leader to "assert the full authority of the presidency."
Clinton's meeting with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi comes as Egypt is in the throes of political chaos, with President Mohamed Morsy in a tug of war with the military leadership in Cairo.
Egypt's military leaders took control of the government after a popular uprising toppled Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, promising to hand over control after elections.
During a meeting Saturday with Morsy, Clinton stressed that it was up to Egypt's people to shape the country's political future. But she also said the United States would work "to support the military's return to a purely national security role."
"The United States supports the full transition to civilian rule, with all that it entails," she said.
"This is a time marked by historic firsts, but also great uncertainty. Egyptians are in the midst of complex negotiations about almost every facet of the transition."
Clinton laid out U.S. ideas for supporting Egypt's fragile economy and discussed regional security issues with Morsy, according to a senior State Department official who described the talks on condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week, Clinton urged Egypt's leaders to talk to one another and settle their differences for the good of the people, saying both the president and the military needed to work together to avoid derailing Egypt's democratic transition.
Clinton's talks with Tantawi were likely to be along the same lines.
Tantawi, a 76-year-old career infantry officer, fought in Egypt's 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars with Israel.
Egypt's military is the foundation of the modern state, having overthrown the country's monarchy in 1952.
The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces currently wields legislative power, having ordered the dissolution of parliament after the country's highest court ruled that it had been elected under laws which were not valid.
Morsy tried to call it back into session after he was sworn in, but the court reaffirmed its decision, so the military council retain lawmaking powers until a new parliament is sworn in near the end of the year.
In the presidential election, Morsy edged out Ahmed Shafik -- the last prime minister to serve Mubarak -- winning nearly 52% of the votes cast.
He resigned from the Muslim Brotherhood and its Freedom and Justice Party shortly after the results were announced, in an apparent effort to send a message that he will represent all Egyptians.
Clinton aides said the secretary of state wanted to visit Cairo early after Morsy's swearing-in to show that the Obama administration wants to help the new government improve Egypt's economy.
Journalist Mohamed Fadel Fahmy contributed to this report.
