NATO Secretary General 'shocked by violence in Egypt'

Rasmussen stressed: "What I can say is that I am shocked by the violence we have seen in Egypt. I deplore the loss of life, I fully condemn the attacks on unarmed civilians including journalists and I urge all parties to stop violence and ensure a peaceful transition to democracy. I have to say that in the long run no society can neglect the will of the people. I also have to say that democracy is much more than just majority rule, democracy is also respect for minorities and respect for human rights, rule of law."

"These are the principles on which our alliance is based. These are also the principles which we hope will be respected by the countries in our partnerships. We have a very valuable partnership with Egypt and other countries in North Africa called the Mediterranean Dialogue and of course we have a dialogue with these countries but we do not interfere in domestic politics", he concluded.