US Senators arrive in Egypt to join peace efforts

US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham have joined top diplomats in Cairo to help find a peaceful solution to Egypt's political crisis. The two arrived in the Egyptian capital on Monday evening for two days of negotiations to try and find a solution to the stalemate between supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi and supporters of the army, who intervened and overthrew him after protests. Before leaving for Cairo, Senator Graham warned the Egyptian military must back out of politics quickly or risk a cut of the $1.3bn that it receives in aid from the US each year. In other developments, the Pentagon said Defense secretary Chuck Hagel had called army chief General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi to discuss mediation progress by US and EU envoys. US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns has also been in the country, and has visited the Muslim Brotherhood Deputy Head, the party of Mr Morsi, Khairat al-Shater in jail. Mr Morsi is being held in an un-disclosed location, and thousands of people have taken to the streets to demand his release.