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Egypt names American NGO workers facing trial
Egypt on Monday released the names of 19 Americans who face trial over foreign funding of activities of their non-profit groups in Egypt, a case that has soured US-Egypt relations.

One of the 19 is the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Sam LaHood and five other Americans are in Egypt while the others have left, according to a statement from the Egyptian prosecutor's office. Altogether, 43 people face trials over illegally operating in Egypt and receiving funds from abroad without permission from Egyptian authorities for their human rights and pro-democracy groups. Egypt charges that they fund and support anti-government protests. The groups deny that.

Washington has reacted angrily to the case, which started with raids last month on the offices of the groups. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has warned it could jeopardise U.S. aid to Egypt, which amounts to more than $1 billion a year.
You do wonder if the generals priced that in before authorizing the warrants...
On Monday the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said the US citizens involved in the dispute have been working to build a more democratic society in Egypt and "have done absolutely nothing wrong."

She told "CBS This Morning" that U.S. officials have been in close touch with the Egyptian government, including "in the last days and hours." She said the situation "has serious consequences for our bilateral relationship."

Egyptian Cabinet minister Mohammed Amr said the government cannot interfere in the work of the judiciary.
Nope, nope, never done it before, never, can't do it now. Why the very thought of the government interfering with the judiciary in Egypt is just unthinkable...
"We are doing our best to contain this but ... we cannot actually exercise any influence on the investigating judges," he reporters at a security conference in Munich, Germany on Sunday, before the announcement that charges would be filed against the foreign activists.
Posted by: Steve White 2012-02-07
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=338560