U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday called Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and urged the Arab country to settle the ongoing political disputes over presidential powers, said the State Department.

In the phone call on Monday morning, "the secretary underscored the importance of settling these disputes in a democratic manner," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland at a regular briefing. "So we look forward to seeing the outcome of that."

According to Nuland, Clinton reiterated that Washington wanted to "see the constitutional process move forward in a way that does not overly concentrate power in one set of hands, that ensures that rule of law, checks and balances, protection of the rights of all groups in Egypt are upheld."

"Our understanding, from the Egyptian side, is that there are now discussions ongoing among a number of the stake holders that President Morsi is conducting consultations with various groups, including with the judiciary," she told reporters.

Egypt has seen a nation-wide protest against the Muslim Brotherhood and President Mohamed Morsi, who issued a new constitutional declaration on Thursday, granting him the absolute power in his country.

According to the new constitutional declaration, all laws, decrees and constitutional declarations issued by the president since Morsi came to office on June 30, 2012, are final and unchallengeable by any body.

But after violent protests over the weekend, the presidency announced Sunday that the constitutional declaration issued by Morsi is temporary rather than permanent. Endi

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