WASHINGTON (AP) — The election of an Islamist president in Egypt is turning longstanding U.S. policy in the Mideast inside out.
The Obama administration is relieved that the candidate who represents three decades of close partnership with the United States was beaten by an Islamic fundamentalist.
Despite reservations, the Obama administration is reassured that Mohammed Morsi won without unleashing a new wave of violence and unrest, and without provoking a military coup.
The United States is now set to embrace the religious-based former opposition leader, who does not share many U.S. goals.
Morsi was popularly elected, and U.S. officials say the freedom of the election is more important than who won it.
Morsi, who is from the formerly banned fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood group, is the first Islamist president of Egypt.
