US still concerned over NGO trial in Egypt

The United States on Monday said it "remained concerned" over Egypt's criminal prosecution of 16 American workers of NGOs, despite efforts to resolve the issue. "We want to see the travel ban lifted; we want to see our people able to leave the coutry; we want to see the situation with NGOs, whether they're American, international or Egyptian, normalized and legalized; we want to get back to the business of a democratic transition in Egypt that we can all support," State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington. The defendants are charged with operating nongovernmental organizations without a license and receiving millions of dollars in illegal funding. Much of the criminal case centers on the activities of two American-based groups, the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute. "This whole situation is created by the fact that it is a very murky, unclear environment for the NGOs to operate in," Nuland said, "The NGOs were invited to Egypt to support the electoral process. They themselves helped serve to validate the fact that it has been a free and fair and transparent process, which was an important international validation for the Egyptian authorities. This is part and parcel of why this is so incoherent and difficult". The United States has threatened to cut off aid to Egypt over the crackdown on the non-profit groups, putting at risk USD 1.3 billion in military aid this year and another USD 250 million in economic assistance.