[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: It would appear from this article that the
United State is not on President Morsy's "dance card". He visited the Saudis
and will visit China and Latin America without any excuses. But the visit
to the US is being explained as to "only be to attend the UN ". In fact,
while Morsy's visit to Iran of just "a few hours" includes the NAM, the item
makes clear that he is also going to Iran in order to interact with Iran
itself.]

Update: Egypt to restructure foreign relations, seek end to Syria conflict
MENA Egypt Independent Mon, 27/08/2012 - 12:04
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/update-egypt-restructure-foreign-relations-seek-end-syria-conflict

Egypt will restructure its foreign relations to base them on collaboration
and mutual interests, presidential spokesperson Yasser Ali said.

Meeting with foreign reporters at the State Information Service building in
Nasr City, Ali said President Mohamed Morsy's visit to China Monday would
seek to open channels of cooperation and attract investment opportunities,
state news agency MENA reported. Ali added that the president's visit to
China would not tackle Beijing's funding of dams built by Nile Basin
countries on the Nile, stressing that Egypt respects every country's right
to seek its interests according to its discretion.

Ali also addressed the crisis in Syria. He said Egypt included Iran in its
proposed four-state panel, also consisting of Egypt, Turkey and Saudi
Arabia, to work on solving the crisis because the problem cannot be resolved
without engaging all active regional parties.

He said Morsy's visit to Iran would only last for a few hours, during which
Egypt is set to hand over the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement — a
group of countries that say they are not aligned with a particular power
bloc — to Iran.

Additionally, Ali said Morsy's visit to the US on 24 September will only be
to attend the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, adding that Egypt is
considering arranging presidential visits to Latin American countries,
particularly Brazil.

Meanwhile, Essam al-Erian, acting chairman of the Freedom and Justice Party,
said that President Mohamed Morsy’s visit to China and Iran would help press
the Syrian regime to bring bloodshed in Syria to an end.

On his Facebook page, Erian said Morsy's success in convincing China and
Iran to press the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cease his
bloody crackdown on his people will represent a starting point for the
four-state panel that Morsy had proposed to solve the Syrian crisis.

Iran is widely believed to have been providing the Syrian regime with all
means of support, including weaponry, in its bloody campaign on
pro-democracy protesters. Russian and Chinese vetoes in October, February
and July stonewalled discussions of the Syrian crisis at the UN Security
Council. The three states strongly oppose any military intervention in the
war-torn country.