Egypt is now led by an interim president and is in a transitional phase which will last from eight to nine months, Egyptian ambassador to the United Nations Wafaa Bassim said.

Egypt is not worried about the United States' aid to it, she said.

Egyptian-American ties are strategic ones and the United States did not use the word "coup" at all when describing the events in Egypt, Bassim added.

The armed forces will have no role in politics during the coming phase and will only protect the country's national security and guard its borders, she stated.

Egypt's delegations abroad can feel an understanding from the international community regarding the truth about the armed forces' siding with the people who could not handle the former president's failure, Bassim told reporters at the U.N. headquarters in Geneva.

Bassim stressed the importance of dealing carefully with the complex and unique situation in Egypt, the Middle East News Agency reported.

She pointed to the difference between the legality of the former president and his legitimacy, adding that "legitimacy is drawn upon from the people and this affirms that what occurred was not a coup d'etat but rather the army siding with the people."

Egypt is now past describing what happened, she said.