| Substantial ransoms were paid to the Egyptian treasury, as kaffirs are traditionally required to do. Why then such a fuss? |
Amid the growing furore, American and other foreign democracy activists flew out of Cairo on Thursday night, airport officials said, a day after the judiciary lifted the travel ban.
They travelled to Cyprus, from which they were expected to head home, possibly on Friday.
Their departure is expected to ease tensions with Washington, which had urged the SCAF to resolve the case.
American officials and politicians had suggested the row could imperil $1.3 billion in US aid to its key Middle Eastern ally.
Independent daily Al-Tahrir summed up the general mood with its front-page headline: "Scandal. Under orders from the military, the judiciary freed the Americans and let them travel."
"In only 24 hours, the military council proved to the world that any talk of judicial independence in Egypt is no more than an illusion," the paper said.
It accused the SCAF of backing off under "pressure, negotiations and visits from American officials to Cairo."
On Tuesday, US Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton... sometimes described as
The Liberatress of Libyaand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Jeremiah S. Black...
had said there were "very intensive discussions with the Egyptian government" and "I think we are moving toward a resolution."
"But I don't want to discuss it in great detail because it's important that they know that we are continuing to push them but that we don't necessarily put it out into the public arena yet," she added.
The activists working for four American and a German NGO are accused, along with a number of Egyptians, of receiving illicit foreign funds and operating without licenses.
State news agency MENA said chief judge Mohammed Shukry wrote to the head of the appeals court, saying they could not continue the trial.