US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday criticised emergency law, arbitrary justice and violence against peaceful demonstrators in Egypt and called on the Cairo government to "put its faith" in the people.
In a major policy speech at the American University in Cairo, Rice also said this year's Egyptian elections must meet objective standards for fairness, with unrestricted access for international monitors and observers.
Rice's criticism of the Egyptian government, which has been friendly and co-operative towards the United States for close to 30 years, was among the toughest by a senior US official.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit earlier on Monday promised that the presidential elections in September would be free, fair and transparent.
Egyptian officials have given similar promises before, without any change in the way the state media cover politics or in the police's attitude towards protests and demonstrations.
For the first time, Egyptians will hold direct presidential elections with more than one candidate in September - a change which Rice described as encouraging.
But after 50 years without competitive presidential elections and with strict limits on independent candidates, President Hosni Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981, is unlikely to face a serious rival, analysts say.
"President Mubarak has unlocked the door for change. But now, the Egyptian government must put its faith in its own people," Rice told an audience of several hundred.
"We are all concerned for the future of Egypt's reforms when peaceful supporters of democracy - men and women - are not free from violence. The day must come when the rule of law replaces emergency decrees, and when the independent judiciary replaces arbitrary justice," she added.
On May 25, the day of a referendum on changing the system for presidential elections, Mubarak supporters beat up demonstrators and molested the women among them. The government has promised to investigate but no one has been charged.
OBJECTIVE STANDARDS:
"Egypt's elections, including the parliamentary elections, must meet objective standards that define every free election," Rice said. "International election monitors and observers must have unrestricted access," she said. Parliamentary polls are expected in November.
Some Egyptian officials have opposed international monitoring as interference in Egyptian affairs but the government has not taken a formal position on the question.
An end to emergency law, in force since Mubarak came to power, has been one of the main demands of opposition groups. The law gives the authorities the power to restrict the right of assembly and detain opponents without charges.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned but normally tolerated Islamist group, are often held under the laws.
Rice said the US administration had not been in contact with the group, which is widely viewed as Egypt's largest opposition force but opposes US Middle East policies. "We have not engaged the Muslim Brotherhood ... and we won't," she said.
At a news conference with Aboul Gheit in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh earlier on Monday, Rice said the presidential elections must be free and fair, with media access for opposition candidates and "a sense of competitiveness".
"I think that our Egyptian friends understand that and will take their responsibility seriously because people will watch what happens," she added.
Aboul Gheit replied: "Everybody wants a fair, transparent election, and this I believe, I assure you."
He said that in trying to reform the Middle East, it was crucial the United States try to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "There is anger in the region, and we have to control that anger and we have to work on their anger to build Arab-American long-term relations," he added.