US not severing ties with Egypt through aid cuts - Kerry

   
A decision by the United States to curtail aid to Egypt does not mean Washington is severing ties with the country, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday, a day after the U.S. said it was halting some aid to Cairo's army-backed government.
   
"The interim government understands very well our commitment to the success of this government, which we want to see achieve, and by no means is this a withdrawal from our relationship or a severing of our serious commitment to helping the government," Kerry told reporters shortly after arriving in Malaysia.

This as Egypt criticized the US decision to halt some military and economic aid to the army-backed government in the wake of a crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.    

"The decision was wrong. Egypt will not surrender to American pressure and is continuing its path towards democracy as set by the roadmap," Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdelatty told a private Egyptian radio station.    

The Egyptian army ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July, installed an interim government and presented a political roadmap it promised would lead to fair elections.   


REUTERS