Deputy US Secretary of State holds talks with head of Muslim Brotherhood

Deputy US Secretary of State William Burns met Wednesday with Mohamed Morsi, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party.

The meeting represented the highest level contacts between the US and the Islamist group since Washington ended a decades-long ban on formal meetings with the Muslim Brotherhood last year.

"It was an opportunity to hear from them and to reinforce our expectation that all the major parties will support human rights, tolerance, rights of women and will also uphold Egypt's existing international obligations," a State Department spokeswoman said.