Egyptian official denounces US Sen. McCain’s comments

An Egyptian presidential aide sharply rejected statements by US Senator John McCain describing the military overthrow of Mohamed Morsi as a coup d'etat. The aide, Ahmed El-Muslimani, accused him of “distorting facts” and making statements “unacceptable in form and substance.”

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham were in Egypt to help mediate differences between the ruling military and the ousted Muslim Brotherhood. McCain pressed for the release of senior Brotherhood figures detained since the 3 July ouster of the president and their inclusion in the interim government. The senator said: The US “cannot support Egypt that is not moving to a democracy.” Tuesday, McCain warned in an interview to CBS TV that Egypt was “just days or weeks away from all-out bloodshed“