The Cancer of Mubarak plagues the Egyptian Body Politic and Legislature

The Egyptian prosecution’s summary of the case against at least 16 Americans and others from five democracy and human rights groups focuses largely on the testimony of their accusers, with evidence primarily limited to proof that their organizations used American and other foreign funds for payrolls and rent.

The prosecution’s dossier also shows leaps of logic in a case that has imperiled a decades-old alliance with Washington and threatened Egypt with the loss of $1.5 billion in aid. The case, for example, cites documents seized in December from one group, the International Republican Institute, that included Wikipedia maps of Egypt showing the country divided into four parts. While Egypt is typically described as comprising four regions — upper and lower Egypt, greater Cairo and the Suez Canal and Sinai region — the prosecution suggested that the maps showed a plan to dismember the country. 

The summary, compiled by the Office of the Investigating Judge of Egypt’s Ministry of Justice, sets the stage for the group trial, scheduled to begin on Sunday. A copy was given to The New York Times by a person close to the investigation on the condition of anonymity because of legal restrictions. 

The primary force behind the prosecution is a holdover from the Mubarak era, Fayza Abul Naga, who has continued to press the case against the democracy groups, despite opposition from military rulers worried about losing American aid, most of which goes to the armed forces. She is foremost among the 13 accusing witnesses, most of them also formerly officials under Hosni Mubarak, the president who was toppled a year ago. Some are underlings of Ms. Abul Naga, who as minister of planning and international cooperation is in charge of dealing with foreign aid. 

Ms. Abul Naga’s central accusation is that the groups were unregistered under Egyptian law, and that the American groups were receiving some $150 million in aid diverted from the larger American aid package to Egypt. They are the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute — which have ties to Congressional party leaders — Freedom House and the International Center for Journalists. The fifth group, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, is German, and receives money from that government. 

More than 40 defendants have been indicted on charges of illegal activity by foreign agents, and face penalties of up to five years in jail. Three of the six accused Americans who are still in Egypt have taken refuge in the American Embassy, including Sam LaHood of the Republican Institute. He is the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. 

Democratization has been a goal of the Obama administration in Egypt, and the case against the Americans has infuriated many in Congress and the administration. 

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, the chairman of the board of the International Republican Institute, arrived Monday in Cairo, where he met with the military leader Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi and other officials and came away with assurances of a speedy resolution to the case. “We’re not making threats,” Mr. McCain said. “There’s plenty of time to make threats.” 

Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who was part of the McCain delegation, was sharply critical of the case. “As an American, I’m offended that people would say things about these organizations,” Mr. Graham said, calling the charges “ridiculous.” 

“The person who brought this forward I think has an agenda that’s not helpful,” he said. 

Senator Graham also praised the moderation of the Muslim Brotherhood officials the delegation had met and said they were sympathetic to the plight of those facing prosecution under laws enacted during the Mubarak government.

Military crackdown in Cairo; is Mohamed ElBaradei the way forward?

Egypt’s interim military rulers battled a reinvigorated protest movement calling for its ouster Sunday, as thousands of demonstrators forced troops to retreat from Tahrir Square for a second night in a row.

Many compared the breadth and intensity of the new battles for the square — the iconic heart of the Egyptian revolt and the Arab Spring — to the early days of the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak, only this time the target of the protesters’ ire was the ruling military council and its leader, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi.

The military-led government’s attempts to beat back or squash the protests appeared to only redouble their strength. After using tear gas, rubber bullets and bird shot to beat back a day of continuous attacks on the headquarters of the interior ministry, hundreds of soldiers and security police in riot gear stormed the square from several directions at once at about 5 p.m., raining down rocks and tear gas as they drove thousands of demonstrators out before them.


But after less than half an hour they had retreated, having succeeded only in burning down a few tents planed in the middle of the square. And after another half an hour the crowd of protestors had more than doubled, packing the square as ever more demonstrators marched in from all directions chanting for the end of military rule.


The protests against military rule spread to at least seven other cities, including Alexandria and Suez. The health ministry said at least three were killed Sunday, after one died Saturday, and the number of seriously injured grew to over 900. A makeshift field hospital the protestors had set up in a mosque near the square treated a steady stream of hundreds bloodied by birdshot and rubber bullets and recorded at least one of the fatalities.