Meeting the head of the Egyptian military council (Scaf), Field Marshall Tantawi, on Sunday, the US Secretary of the State Hillary Clinton urged the military make way for a civilian-led democracy.

After the meeting, Clinton said,

"Democracy is hard. It requires dialogue and compromise and real politics. We are encouraged and we want to be helpful. But we know that it is not for the United States to decide; it is for the Egyptian people to decide."

An US State Department official added,

“Tantawi stressed that this is what Egyptians need most now, help getting the economy back on track,”

“The Secretary stressed the importance of protecting the rights of all Egyptians, including women and minorities.”

Addressing his troops afterwards, Field Marshall Tantawi said “the armed forces and the army council [would] respect legislative and executive authorities,” but they “would not allow anyone to discourage [them] from . . . protecting Egypt and its people."

A spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, Mourad Mohammed Aly, reiterated Clinton's calls for democracy, and said,

“With all due respect to international powers, Egyptians have the right to establish a fully democratic regime,”

"We expect the international community will support us, but if they will not support us, we will do it on our own.”

Clinton met with Egypt's President Mursi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, the day before.