Egypt to open trial of NGO workers on February 26

Feb 18, 2012, 12:40 GMT

Cairo- The trial of 43 Egyptian and foreign activists charged with working for unlicensed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) will start on February 26, judicial sources said on Saturday.

The trial will be held at a criminal court in northern Cairo, the sources said.

The defendants, including 19 Americans and two Germans, are also charged with receiving illegal foreign funding.

The indictment has strained Egypt's ties with the United States, which has threatened to withhold 1.3 billion dollars of annual military aid to its key Arab ally.

Egypt has been receiving the aid since 1979 when it signed a peace treaty with Israel

In December, Egyptian prosecutors and police raided the offices of 17 NGOs throughout the country, detaining employees and seizing computer files.

A German group, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was among those raided.

The authorities claimed that the organizations had operated without licences and received illegal funds from abroad.

Pro-democracy advocates have said that the crackdown was aimed at smearing civil society groups for exposing alleged abuses by Egypt's military-led government.