What behind Kerry's Egypt visit before Morsi's trial?

Several political parties and movements also expressed their suspicions about Kerry's visit, which came one day before the first session of the trial of Morsi and some other leaders of Muslim Brotherhood charged with incitement of murder and violence in Ittihadiya presidential palace clashes in December 2012.

Despite the affirmation by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry that Kerry's visit had nothing to do with Morsi's trial, several political parties warned against any foreign interference in the trial of the former president, stressing they will not accept any dictates coming from abroad.

During his meeting with Fahmy, the Egyptian foreign minister, Kerry said that he and Fahmy agreed on the need to ensure that Egyptians are afforded due process with fair and transparent trials.

For Huda Ragheb, a professor of political science at the American University in Cairo, speculated that Washington has softened its stance toward Egypt given that Kerry did not meet any Brotherhood leaders.

"Kerry didn't refer to the trial of Morsi in specific and didn't even meet with Brotherhood," Ragheb said, adding that the United States is beginning to show its softer side to Egypt.

"They are just looking for ways to restore normal ties with Egypt again and are looking for a legal solution for this," Ragheb told Xinhua.

Egypt is a "vital partner" to the United States and the US government is committed to working with the interim government and supporting the Egyptian people, Kerry said at a joint press conference after he met with Fahmy.

Relations between the two countries became a little subtler after the United States decided on Oct 9 to suspend the annual $1.3 billion miliary assistance to the Middle East ally.

Kerry said the US-Egypt ties should not be "defined by assistance," adding that the suspension was not a punishment but a reflection of the US foreign policy after the military toppled the country's first democratically-elected president.

"(US) President Barack Obama has worked very hard to be able to make sure that it will not disrupt the US relations with Egypt," Kerry said.

"The US is finding an exit to restore normal US-Egyptian ties after it felt the danger of the diminishing of its influence in the region, especially after the Egyptian foreign minister declared that Egypt may look beyond the US to meet its security needs," Ragheb said.

Ragheb noted that whether the US aid to Egypt resumed or not, ties with the United States would not come back to its golden days, as Egypt would be keen to build balanced relations with all countries in the world and would not accept any interference in its internal affairs.

However, Wahid Abdel Maguid, a political expert at Ahram Center for Strategic Studies, said Kerry's visit was just a normal tour for consultation with the interim government as it was the first leg of a nine-day trip to the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe.

"Kerry only reiterated the US stance that normal relations and full support to Egypt are still conditioned with the Egyptians' success to reach democratic political life," said Maguid.

"If Egypt failed again to complete its democratic transition, it will not only lose its ties with the US, but also with other countries who will look at it in a negative way," he added.