Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi will visit the United States in 2013, a presidential spokesman said on Monday, in what would be the Islamist leader’s first visit to Washington since he was elected in June.

The spokesman, Yasser Ali, said no precise date had been set for the visit.

The United States gives Egypt about $1.3 billion a year in military aid to bolster the U.S.-brokered peace treaty Cairo signed with Israel in 1979.

Former President Hosni Mubarak, a close U.S. ally, upheld the treaty for 30 years until he was overthrown in a popular revolt in February 2011.

Mursi has said he will honour Egypt’s treaty obligations, although some in the Muslim Brotherhood, to which he belonged before he took office, want the pact with Israel to be reviewed.

Islamists are locked in conflict with their opponents over a new constitution due to go to a referendum on Saturday.

(Reuters)