Press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama has not spoken with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak since he became the target of roiling street protests. Asked why not, Gibbs said that "we're monitoring a very fluid situation."
Gibbs said it was time for reform to come to Egypt. He reiterated calls for calm and said that the Pentagon has been in direct contact with the Egyptian military to caution restraint.
The U.S. is treading carefully amid the threat to a stalwart U.S. ally in the Arab world considered a linchpin for American efforts to forge Middle East peace and tamp down Islamic extremism.
