'You can rely on Germany'

Guido Westerwelle told Egypt's new president on Tuesday that Germany wanted to play its part in the country's democratization process.

"You can rely on Germany," Westerwelle told Mohammed Morsi in a joint press conference after the pair had talked in Cairo. "I call on all Egyptians to support the path towards democracy."

Westerwelle and Morsi were meeting as Egyptian parliamentarians returned to work for the first time in almost a month.

The new president had ordered that they reconvene, in a move seen as an early challenge to the Egyptian judiciary and military.

Rift with judiciary and military

The Supreme Constitutional Court on Tuesday overruled the president's decision to reconvene parliament, adding to the tension. The court had already said on Monday that Morsi's move was illegal.

Protesters gathered in the city's Tahrir Square to support Morsi's decree, shouting against the court ruling with shouts of "void, void."

On eve of the presidential runoff vote, the court had disbanded parliament, dominated by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group. The court also issued a statement on Monday saying that this prior decision was binding and that parliament should not reconvene.

The military said that parliamentarians should not return, but did not take any steps to prevent them.

Many liberal and left-wing members of parliament, considered more closely aligned with the military and judiciary, chose not to attend Tuesday's parliamentary session.

Westerwelle did not mention the ongoing dispute on Tuesday, but did say that there was still work to be done 17 months after the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.

"There is still no guarantee that the transition towards democracy will succeed," the German foreign minister warned, also inviting Morsi to visit Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin.

Westerwelle was the first western foreign minister to hold talks with Morsi since he was named president on June 30.

msh, ng/sej (AFP, dpa, Reuters)