U.S. President Barack Obama says halting aid to Egypt "may not reverse what the interim government does."
In an interview broadcast on CNN, Obama said the United States must be cautious when considering cutting the $1.5 billion in mostly military aid to Egypt.
Obama said the United States did not want to be seen as aiding and abetting actions that run contrary to U.S. values.
Obama said aid was not halted immediately after the Egyptian military ousted and detained President Muhammad Morsi on July 3 because Washington was hoping to use diplomacy to encourage the military to seek reconciliation with factions supporting Morsi.
Obama conceded Egypt's military "did not take that opportunity."
Meanwhile in Egypt, Islamist supporters of ousted President Morsi have held scattered rallies across Cairo.
Several thousand protesters chanting antimilitary slogans demonstrated outside neighborhood mosques and through Cairo's smaller streets, avoiding major roads and squares where government security forces were deployed ahead of the rallies.
The protests are seen as a test of whether Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood can keep up the pressure on the interim government.
Much of the Muslim Brotherhood's senior leadership has been arrested in the past several days, while hundreds of other members have gone into hiding.
Hundreds of people, mainly Morsi supporters, have been killed in violence in Egypt since Morsi was ousted.
The protests also came one day after Morsi's predecessor, deposed autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak, was released from prison and placed under house arrest.
In an interview broadcast on CNN, Obama said the United States must be cautious when considering cutting the $1.5 billion in mostly military aid to Egypt.
Obama said the United States did not want to be seen as aiding and abetting actions that run contrary to U.S. values.
Obama said aid was not halted immediately after the Egyptian military ousted and detained President Muhammad Morsi on July 3 because Washington was hoping to use diplomacy to encourage the military to seek reconciliation with factions supporting Morsi.
Obama conceded Egypt's military "did not take that opportunity."
Meanwhile in Egypt, Islamist supporters of ousted President Morsi have held scattered rallies across Cairo.
Several thousand protesters chanting antimilitary slogans demonstrated outside neighborhood mosques and through Cairo's smaller streets, avoiding major roads and squares where government security forces were deployed ahead of the rallies.
The protests are seen as a test of whether Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood can keep up the pressure on the interim government.
Much of the Muslim Brotherhood's senior leadership has been arrested in the past several days, while hundreds of other members have gone into hiding.
Hundreds of people, mainly Morsi supporters, have been killed in violence in Egypt since Morsi was ousted.
The protests also came one day after Morsi's predecessor, deposed autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak, was released from prison and placed under house arrest.