Charges Against U.S.-Aided Groups Come With History of Distrust in Egypt

By SCOTT SHANE and RON NIXON
NYT

WASHINGTON — Authoritarian rulers from Caracas to Moscow and beyond have long viewed pro-democracy groups financed by the United States with deep suspicion, regularly denouncing them as meddlers or spies and sometimes harassing their workers.

But never has a government gone as far as Egypt’s, which on Monday confirmed that it intended to try 19 Americans and more than two dozen other people on charges stemming from a criminal investigation that has shocked Obama administration officials and endangered military aid.

In the wake of the charges and response on Monday, Egypt abruptly recalled from Washington a delegation of generals that had been planning to meet with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Egyptian state media announced charges against four such nonprofit organizations that are based in Washington and that receive some United States government support. The charges include operating without licenses, “conducting research to send to the United States” and supporting Egyptian candidates and parties “to serve foreign interests.”

(More here.)