US keeps in close contact with Egypt's military

WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates conferred with his Egyptian counterpart on Wednesday, his third conversation in a week with Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi amid a wave of unrest shaking Egypt.

"Secretary Gates spoke by phone with Field Marshal Tantawi again today," press secretary Geoff Morrell said in an email.

With the United States seeking to keep the lines of communication open with Egypt's powerful military, Gates' conversation with the defense minister followed a phone call earlier Wednesday between the US military's top officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, and Cairo's army chief of staff, General Sami Enan.

In his conversation with the general, Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "expressed his confidence in the Egyptian military's ability to provide for their country's security, both internally and throughout the Suez Canal area," spokesman Captain John Kirby said in a statement.

The Pentagon offered no further details about Gates' conversation with the defense minister.

US officials and analysts view the role of Egypt's army as crucial in eventually resolving the crisis, and the administration is hoping that longstanding US defense ties with Cairo will provide some leverage.

The White House said earlier that US contacts with various levels of the Egyptian armed forces had helped rein in possible violence before Wednesday.