David Cameron has spoken of how Egypt faces "a moment of opportunity" during a brief visit to Cairo on the first leg of a tour of the Gulf region.
The Prime Minister was the first world leader to visit the Egyptian capital since the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak.
He held talks with prime minister Ahmed Shafik and the head of the army council Mohammed Tantawi, and met opposition figures involved in the Tahrir Square protests.
He described meeting young activists there as "genuinely inspiring".
"What is so refreshing about what's been happening is that this is not an Islamist revolt, this is not extremists on the streets; this is people who want to have the sort of basic freedoms that we take for granted in the UK," he said.
Mr Cameron welcomed the steps taken by the government to prepare for elections in Egypt but said more needed to be done.
"These are all good steps but I would argue, and have been arguing with them today, that they need to do more, more quickly in terms of ending the state of emergency, allowing parties to register, freeing political prisoners," he said.
The PM has begun the second leg of his tour of the Gulf region and has now arrived in Kuwait.
David Cameron meets the head of the army council Mohammed Tantawi in Egypt
David Cameron has met the head of the army council Mohammed Tantawi
Mr Cameron is due to make a speech on Tuesday about democracy and its place in underpinning trade and security in the region.
He will also take part in events marking the 20th anniversary of the first Gulf War - sparked by then-Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's invasion.
The trip was originally planned to promote trade and investment, which is why the travelling business delegation includes representatives of defence firms.
Although the Foreign Office revoked a number of arms export licenses for Libya and Bahrain on Friday, Mr Cameron has insisted that it was "very much in Britain's interests" that the UK continues to promote defence relationships with countries in the region.
"Britain has a range of strong defence relationships with countries in the region. I seem to remember we spent a lot of effort and indeed life in defending and helping to defend Kuwait," he said.
The Prime Minister's visit to Egypt came as unrest spreads throughout the region, especially in Libya where hundreds of people are said to have died in clashes with troops.
Mr Cameron described the violence as "appalling and unacceptable" and accused the government of Colonel Gaddafi of employing "the most vicious form of repression" against its people.