U.S. officials conduct talks with Muslim Brotherhood

The AP has reported the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest Islamist group, met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. The Brotherhood is prepared to have major control of the country’s new parliament and favors a mix of parliamentary and presidential systems for its new government.

Having won more than 40% of the seats in the incoming parliament, the Brotherhood is getting set to create a new constitution when the body convenes on January 23rd:

Its primary purpose is to appoint a 100-member panel to write a new constitution.

Mohammed Morsi, head of the Brotherhood’s political party, told Burns during the Wednesday meeting that there is a consensus on civic freedoms and rights for the new constitution, according to a statement from Morsi’s office.

Before the visit, State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Burns would talk about US “support for Egypt’s democratic political transition, including an active and independent civil society, and the current economic challenges facing Egypt.”

The Obama administration is attempting to establish a dialog after decades of the U.S. government avoiding the Islamist group.