Convicted
Egyptian court convicts 43 NGO employee
A court in Cairo has convicted 43 Egyptian and foreign employees of non-governmental (NGO) organisations for working illegally in Egypt.
The court sentenced the defendants - most of them in absentia - to jail terms of up to five years.
It also ordered the closure of offices and the seizure of assets in Egypt belonging to several US NGOs.
The case - which began in 2012 - has strained relations between Cairo and Washington.
US officials had threatened to cut off the roughly $1.5bn (£980m) in aid paid to Egypt every year.
Raids
On Tuesday, the Cairo court sentenced 27 defendants to five years in prison. Another five received two years and 11 were given one-year terms.
Only five defendants, including one American national, were present in court.
Most foreign defendants - nationals of the US, Germany, Serbia and Arab states - were able to leave the country last year after the authorities had lifted a travel ban against them.
They include Sam LaHood, son of the US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He received a five-year prison term.
The defendants say they will appeal against the sentences, according to the AFP news agency.
The court in the Egyptian capital also ordered the closure of a number of NGOs operating in Egypt, including the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI).
Last year - when Egypt was under military rule following the removal of President Hosni Mubarak - police raided the IRI and NDI offices as well as a number of Egyptian NGOs.
The NGOs had been accused of operating without licences and receiving illicit foreign funds - a charge they denied.
Washington has so far made no public comment on the court's decision.
Last week, human rights groups expressed concerns that a draft law backed by Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi would restrict the funding and activities of NGOs in the country.
Egyptian officials rejected the claim as groundless.
(Published by BBC News – June 4, 2013)