In an interview with the Washington Post newspaper, Egypt's commanding general Abdel Fattah al-Sissi sharply criticized the U.S. response, accusing the Obama administration of disregarding the Egyptian popular will and of providing insufficient support amid threats of a civil war.
Commenting on Washington's will to go in penalizing the Egyptian military by postponing the sale of four F-16 fighters, Sissi said "this is not the way to deal with a patriotic military."
Sissi appeared angry that the United States has not fully endorsed what he described as "a free people who rebelled against an unjust political rule."
Sissi said that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel calls him "almost every day" but that President Obama has not called since Morsi's ouster.
Egypt's commanding general suggested that if the United States wants to avoid further bloodshed in Egypt, it should persuade the Brotherhood to back down from the Cairo sit-ins it has maintained since July 3.
"The U.S. administration has a lot of leverage and influence with the Muslim Brotherhood, and I'd really like the U.S. administration to use this leverage with them to resolve the conflict," Sissi said.
Sissi said he had recognized problems with Morsi from the day he was inaugurated. The president, Sissi said, was "not a president for all Egyptians, but a president representing his followers and supporters.
He also slammed the Muslim Brotherhood group, saying its members are more devoted to their Islamist beliefs than they are to Egypt.
"The idea that gathers them together is not nationalism, it's not patriotism, it is not a sense of a country," he said.
Asked if he intends to run for president, as previous military leaders have done, Sissi suggested he will not, saying he doesn't "aspire for authority."
But when pressed, he stopped short of ruling out the possibility.
"The most important achievement in my life is to overcome this circumstance, [to ensure] that we live peacefully, to go on with our road map and to be able to conduct the coming elections without shedding one drop of Egyptian blood," he said, before adding, "When the people love you, this is the most important thing for me."
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