The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, was also talking to the Egyptian army chief, Lieutenant General Sami Enan, who had been at the Pentagon only in late January for discussions about combined training.

ECONOMIST: Military-to-military relationships: The ties that bind | The

The army's high command, an 18-man body including the 75-year-old defence minister, Muhammad Tantawi, the chief of staff, Sami Enan, and the commanders of service branches, specialist corps and military regions, suspended the constitution, dissolved Egypt's parliament and assumed control.

ECONOMIST: After Mubarak