CAIRO: The United States has stepped up its tone against the Egyptian government as it reiterated its criticism of Egypt's raids on international and local NGOs this week, saying the crackdown was “unacceptable” and blamed it on the remnants of ousted President Hosni Mubarak`s regime. In a statement by the US State Department`s Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, Washington said, “the US Administration had been assured by the Egyptian government leaders that the issue would be resolved, and the raids would end, and NGOs would be allowed to work, and that their confiscated items would be returned.” Nuland said on Tuesday these assurances appeared to be hollow, and that harassment of both US-backed and Egyptian non-governmental groups continued. Some 17 NGOs were raided by Egypt's security on December 29, increasing fears from activists and the NGO community that the military junta was furthering its crackdowns on development, human rights and democracy institutions in the country. The NGOs included the American National Democratic Institute in Cairo, Alexandria and Assiut, the International Republican Institute and Freedom House, all of whom are US backed. Nuland stepped up her criticism of the Egyptian government's recent crackdown on the NGOs describing the statements in recent days by officials against the NGOs as “those similar to Mubarak`s regime and that its made by Mubarak holdovers who clearly failed to be on the same track with the Egyptian people.” She considered the allegations of the Egyptian government that NGOs are meddling in the political system and funded illegally as “very aggressive propaganda” designed to “scare the Egyptian people,” particularly activists. Her statements came after Egyptian government ministers defended the raids, and have described the crackdown as “part of an investigation into illegal funding of political activities,” which they said has increased since the Mubarak regime was toppled in an uprising last year. On the other hand, the German government said on Tuesday that it plans to dispatch an envoy to Egypt following the recent raids on NGOs by the Egyptian Security Forces. The German Foreign Ministry said that the envoy would press the Egyptian authorities over the recent raids on NGOs, including a German think tank`s office in Cairo. The ministry said that the German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is planning to send his appointed envoy for change in the Arab World, Volkmar Wenzel to Cairo to hold talks with the Egyptian Foreign Minister and other officials. The Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which has links to Chancellor Angela Merkel's party, was among the organizations whose offices were raided. On Friday, Egypt's ambassador was summoned in Berlin. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/BX48M Tags: featured, Funding, NGOs, Raids, United States Section: Egypt, Human Rights, Latest News
