1-Jan-2012 - US Says Egypt Promises to End Nonprofit Crackdown, but Accusations Continue

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The ruling generals also agreed to return documents, computers and other property seized in raids the day before on the local and international nonprofits, including American groups that receive United States government funding, the State Department said. The American ambassador in Cairo, Anne Patterson, received the assurances after talks with Egypt’s leaders, including “senior members” of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, the State Department’s spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, said in a statement. Egyptian officials did not immediately confirm the pledges, but the swift, high-level intervention by Obama administration officials in Cairo and in Washington underscored the seriousness of the affront caused by the raids. Authorities in Egypt have said the raids were part of an investigation into foreign funding of non-governmental groups. But activists accused the government of using the campaign against foreign financing as a pretext to stifle perceived sources of criticism amid increasing calls for the generals to cede power to civilian leaders. The United States has been especially vocal on the need for the transfer of power as the government has brutally cracked down on demonstrators demanding the NHL jerseys generals step down. The raids — which unfolded with no prior warning to American or other officials — were the latest in a series of actions by Egypt’s military rulers that have strained relations with the United States and raised tensions over the transition to democracy following the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak 11 months ago. The American groups that were raided included the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute. On Friday, state media reported that the Interior Ministry found evidence suggesting that one MLB jerseys of the approximately 10 nonprofits that had been raided used its foreign donors’ money to pay illiterate laborers for participating in protests against the government. Ms. Patterson, in her discussions with the Egyptians, made it clear that the United States expected that all international organizations “be able to return to normal operations as soon as possible in support of the democratic transition underway in Egypt.” Anger over the raids extended beyond the Americans. Others targeted included Egyptian groups that promote civil society and a German foundation, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Germany’s foreign ministry summoned the Egyptian ambassador in Berlin and demanded an investigation. The foundation’s chairman, Hans-Gert Pöttering, a former president of NFL jerseys wholesale the European Parliament, said in a statement that armed police units and Egyptian prosecutors confiscated all of the Cairo office’s computers and numerous documents. Following the searches, the offices were sealed. The foundation, one of Germany’s most prominent nongovernmental organizations with close ties to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, has operated in Egypt for more than 30 years. “These events irritate us greatly, and I call on the Egyptian authorities responsible to restore the working capacities of our office in Cairo,” Mr. Pöttering said. Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, issued a statement on Friday noting her “great concern” over the raids and calling on “Egyptian authorities to resolve the current situation and to allow civil society organizations to continue their work in support of Egypt’s transition.” Besides reporting that evidence suggested at least one nonprofit was paying to swell the number of protesters, state media also reported that one person at an Egyptian nonprofit had been arrested and that police said they had found a large sum of money, hashish, and seditious documents in the man’s possession.

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