Nabil Fahmy, the former Egyptian ambassador to the United States, on Sunday defended last week's military action in Cairo that led to the ouster of President Mohammed Morsi.
Fahmy, who appeared on NBC’s "Meet the Press," said Morsi should have responded to the estimated 30 million protesters swarming the streets of the city.
"Twenty to 30 million people on the street here is equivalent to 50 to 60 million on Capitol Hill,” Fahmy said. "Your president would have responded to the people there in one political form or the other. There was no response."
The military acted in an effort to prevent civil unrest, he said.
"They did oust the president, that's true, but then they handed over government immediately to the interim president," Fahmy said. "So the fact that they seized power or wanted to seize power is, frankly, incorrect."
Fahmy said Interim President Adly Mansour is in the process of naming a new interim prime minister, following the sudden withdrawal of Mohamed ElBaradei’s name after its initial announcement.
"The interim president is consulting to try to get the widest possible support for the new prime minister, and, hopefully, he will announce the prime minister's name within a few hours or a day a most, I hope," Fahmy said. "We are looking for a democratic process that's inclusive, that's transparent, that 's accountable and includes everyone. I think every effort has to be made to include Islamists. They are part of Egypt."
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