US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Cairo on Saturday for talks with new President Mohamed Morsi, amid a power struggle between the Islamist leader and the generals who ruled Egypt after Hosni Mubarak was ousted. It will be Clinton’s second visit to the Arab world’s most populous nation since a popular uprising overthrew long-time US ally Hosni Mubarak last year. Over two days, she will meet Morsi — a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood until he was sworn in last month — and other top officials, as well as civil society groups, the official MENA news agency reported. Clinton steps into the political maelstrom of a complex power struggle between the president and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Last week, Morsi ordered parliament to convene, defying a military decision to disband the house after the country’s top court ruled it invalid. Morsi’s decree was applauded by supporters who believed the court’s decision to disband parliament was political, but it set off a fire storm of criticism from opponents who accused him of overstepping his authority. The origins of the battle for parliament lay in the constitutional declaration issued by the SCAF before the president was sworn in. The declaration, which acts as a temporary constitution until a new one is drafted, granted the military sweeping powers, including legislative control, and rendered the presidential post little more than symbolic.
