CAIRO Egyptian officials say 43 NGO workers, including 19 Americans, have been referred to trial before the Cairo Criminal Court for allegedly being involved in banned activity, illegally receiving foreign funds and operating without a license. Besides the 19 Americans, there are also five Serbs, two Germans, three Arab nationals and 14 Egyptians among the 43, who have all been banned from travel. The Americans include Sam LaHood, the head of the Egypt office of the Washington-based International Republican Institute (IRI) and the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Freedom House employees and administrative staff. The Egyptians do not include Nasser Amin, who heads an NGO advocating judicial independence. The accused were interrogated by a panel of investigating judges on secondments from the Justice Ministry regarding funds they received directly from the US, Serbia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and a number of Eastern European countries. Organizations such as the IRI and the National Democratic Institute were accused of receiving $40 million over six months to support Egypt's transition to democracy in activities deemed in violation of Egypt's NGO Law No. 84 of 2002. The decision on Sunday by investigating judges is likely to further sour relations between Egypt's military rulers and the United States, the Arab nation's chief western backer for more than 30 years. A date has yet to be set for the start of the trial.
