The Obama Administration has distanced itself from the remarks of its special envoy Frank Wisner that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should stay in
office to ensure smooth transition of power.
The Obama Administration, which has been seeking immediate transition in Egypt, was quick to distance itself from Wisner's remarks.
"The views he (Wisner) expressed Sunday are his own. He did not coordinate his comments with the US government," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said Saturday.
According to media reports, Wisner had said that "Mubarak must stay in office in order to steer those changes through...
This is an ideal moment for him to show the way forward".
Noting that the administration has great respect for Wisner and was deeply appreciative of his willingness to travel to Egypt last week, Crowley said the former US envoy to India and Egypt "has not continued in any official capacity"
following his Cairo trip early this week.
The statement by Wisner, on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, is considered significant given that the former US Ambassador to Egypt and India was dispatched by the White House this week to talk to Mubarak and pave way for transition, after anti-Mubarak protests started
in Cairo and other parts of the country.
At the request of US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Wisner had travelled to Cairo to deliver the message to Mubarak that neither he nor his son should continue in the government after the September
presidential elections.