Obama: Egypt Not an Ally of America

AP: Obama: Egypt not an ally or enemy

WASHINGTON (AP) — With anti-U.S. protests spreading in the Arab world, President Barack Obama says the U.S. would not consider Egypt an ally, "but we don't consider them an enemy."

Obama said in an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo that Egypt is a "new government that is trying to find its way." And he warned that if the Egyptian government takes actions showing "they're not taking responsibility," then it would "be a real big problem."

Administration officials later said the president was not trying to downgrade the relationship between the U.S. and Egypt. But the remark reflected some U.S. frustration that Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi had not been vigorous enough in his response to a breach Tuesday of the U.S. embassy in Cairo by demonstrators protesting an anti-Muslim film.

Those protests continued to spread, with demonstrators storming the U.S. Embassy compound in Yemen's capital, Sanaa on Thursday. They were on the embassy's grounds but did not enter the building housing the offices. Demonstrators removed the embassy's sign on the outer wall and set tires ablaze. Once inside the compound, they brought down the U.S. flag and burned it.