A protester sets a tire on fire during clashes with police in front of the U.S. embassy in Cairo, Egypt, early Thursday, Sept. 13, 2012, as part of widespread anger across the Muslim world about a film ridiculing Islam’s Prophet Muhammad. AP/Mohammed Abu Zaid
BRUSSELS — Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has vowed not to allow attacks on foreign embassies in Cairo, saying the Egyptian people reject such “unlawful acts.”
Speaking during a visit to the European Union on Thursday, Morsi said he had spoken to U.S. President Barack Obama and that he condemned “in the clearest terms” attacks in the Libyan city of Benghazi that killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans.
Crowds protesting at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Wednesday climbed its walls and tore down an American flag, which they replaced briefly with a black, Islamist flag.
Barroso says the EU is prepared to make available €500 million ($645 million) in financial assistance to Egypt to support the consolidation of democracy there.