CAIRO

Prime Minister-designate Hazem el-Beblawi met Monday with visiting US Deputy Secretary Bill Burns and US Ambassador Anne Patterson.

They discussed the latest developments in Egypt and the implementation of the army-backed roadmap, according to a Cabinet press statement.

A diplomatic source told the Anadolu Agency Burns underlined during the meeting that Washington hopes Egypt would have a civilian government that meets the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

The premier-designate told the visiting diplomat that the formation of a government of technocrats is a top priority for the current leadership, the source added.

Biblawi was asked to form a new government by interim President Adly Mansour, who was sworn in under a roadmap by the powerful army that ousted elected President Mohammad Morsi and suspended the constitution.

Burns is expected to meet later Monday with Mansour, Vice President Mohammad ElBaradei and chief of the military and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The senior diplomat arrived here late Sunday on the first visit by a high-level American official since the army ousted Morsi on July 3.

While countries like Turkey and Tunisia describe what happened as a military coup, the Obama administration has avoided the term because under US laws that means automatic and immediate halt to the $1.3 billion Egypt gets every year in military aid.

But Washington has called for the release of Morsi, who has not been seen in public ever since his ouster and his whereabouts remains under wraps.

Nour, Tamarod refuse to meet senior US diplomat

ON the other hand, Salafist Nour Party and the Tamarod (Rebellion) protest group have refused to meet with visiting Burns.

“We oppose any intervention in our domestic affairs. A solution to our problems must come from within, not from outside,” Amr el-Mekki, Naour Assistant President, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the party has declined an invitation to meet with Burns.

Mahmoud Badr, the founder of Tamarod, a grassroots protest group that spearheaded the campaign to oust elected president Mohammad Morsi, tweeted that he had declined an invitation to meet Burns.

The senior diplomat arrived here late Sunday on a three-day visit, the first by a senior American official since the army ousted elected president Mohammad Morsi on July 3.

He is expected to meet later Monday with interim President Adly Mansour, Vice President Mohammad El-Baradei and Defense Minister Abdel Fatahh el-Sisi.

Talks will dwell on the situation in Egypt and the military-backed roadmap, US Embassy diplomatic sources told Anadolu.