White House condemns Egypt violence

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has issued the following statements on the bloodshed in Tahrir Square, condemning the violence but stopping short of holding the Egyptian government responsible for it: The United States deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt, and we are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has issued the following statements on the bloodshed in Tahrir Square, condemning the violence but stopping short of holding the Egyptian government responsible for it:

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has issued the following statements on the bloodshed in Tahrir Square, condemning the violence but stopping short of holding the Egyptian government responsible for it:

The United States deplores and condemns the violence that is taking place in Egypt, and we are deeply concerned about attacks on the media and peaceful demonstrators. We repeat our strong call for restraint.

A Twitter message from State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley is similarly ambiguous: 

We reiterate our call for all sides in #Egypt to show restraint and avoid violence. Egypt’s path to democratic change must be peaceful.

Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has stated that he believes the police are behind the attacks by pro-Mubarak supporters in Cairo today. He has also demanded that the Army — which seems to be remaining neutral as the violence worsens — "intervene to protect Egyptian lives." The Egyptian Interior Ministry is denying it is behind the attacks.

Joshua Keating was an associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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