CAIRO: Several Egyptian lawmakers on Friday accused the government of bowing to United States pressure by allowing a group of foreign NGO workers on trial in Cairo to leave the country. Independent MP Mustafa Bakri has demanded that Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri and the justice and foreign ministers explain to Parliament why the travel ban on US NGO workers was lifted. “What happened is a scandal,” Bakri said on the Good Morning Egypt TV show on Thursday. Bakri has a rich history of making controversial statements. In February he accused Mohamed ElBaradei of inciting American and Zionist agents who want to “hijack the revolution.” A total of 43 Egyptian and foreigners working for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are facing charges of receiving illegal funding from abroad. They include a number of US nationals, who left Cairo on Thursday aboard a US military plane after a travel ban on them was lifted. The case has seriously strained ties between Egypt and the United States, with Washington threatening to withhold 1.3 billion dollars in annual military aid to its key Arab ally. The judges hearing the case resigned earlier this week. Bakri, the lawmaker, said he had asked the government to explain to parliament the reasons for lifting the travel ban and to clarify whether the judges had resigned as a result of political interference in the case. Other colleagues said they would make similar requests. Yusri Hamad, a lawmaker from the Salafist ultra-conservative Nour party, alleged that a “dubious deal” had been forged between Egypt's military rulers and the US administration. “This is an insult to the Egyptians' feelings and an infringement of the judiciary's independence,” Hamad said. According to Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abul Naga, the trial was set to continue after a new panel of judges is appointed. The NGOs involved include Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Washington-based International Republican Institute. In December, prosecutors and police raided the offices of 17 organizations across Egypt, detaining employees and seizing computer files. Pro-democracy advocates said the crackdown was designed to smear civil society groups for exposing alleged abuses by Egypt's military-led government. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/8CTce Tags: Criticizes, featured, Ganzouri, Mustafa Bakri, NGO workers Section: Egypt, Latest News
