US Secretary of State John Kerry has paid a visit to Cairo for talks with Egyptian leaders and opposition amid political and economic turmoil in the North African country.

Kerry arrived in Cairo from Turkey for a two-day visit on Saturday. He is due to meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi as well as political parties, business leaders and civil society groups during his stay.

“He is working to touch base with the government, with the military, with people involved in the new Egypt: the political leaders, NGO leaders, the business people,” a US state department official said.

Earlier in the day, Egyptian opposition figures, including Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohamed ElBaradei of the National Salvation Front (NSF), turned down invitations to meet Kerry after Washington's call for them to reconsider a boycott of next month's parliamentary polls.


Ahmed el-Borai, a member of the NSF, also said that he declined a US Embassy invitation “so as to not allow a foreign party to dictate its will on Egyptians.”

However, a US state department official said, Kerry “will not tell them what to do” but will underscore that “the only way to be heard is to participate in the elections.”

The National Salvation Front, Egypt’s leading opposition bloc, has threatened to ban the legislative elections scheduled to start on April 22, accusing Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood party of trying to monopolize power.

Egypt’s parliamentary elections come at a time when unrest, insecurity, and an economic crisis plague the North African country.