Senior US diplomat Bill Burns today urged Egypt's divided factions to engage in dialogue and end violence, according to comments he made in Cairo aired on Arabic television channels.
Burns also condemned a fortnight of deadly attacks in the restive Sinai peninsula, but said the situation in war-ravaged Syria would not be repeated in Egypt, according to an Arabic translation.
The visit by the under secretary of state is the first to Egypt by a senior US official since the military toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, the country's first freely elected leader, in a popularly backed coup on July 3.
Morsi's overthrow after massive nationwide protests demanding his resignation has plunged Egypt into turmoil.
Burns was speaking after holding talks with army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, military-appointed president Adly Mansour and caretaker prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi.
