Pro-Democracy NGO Workers Leave Egypt
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) — Foreign pro-democracy non-governmental organization workers, who were being held in Egypt, have departed the country, U.S. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland confirmed Thursday.
The news of their departure comes a day after Egypt lifted the travel ban it imposed on a group of workers — some of them American — accused of violating Egyptian laws.
“We are very pleased that the Egyptian courts have now lifted the travel ban now on our NGO employees,” Nuland said. “The U.S. government has provided a plane to facilitate their departure.”
Initially subject only to a travel ban, the crisis deepened as the Americans were among dozens of workers of pro-democracy non-governmental organizations criminally charged by an Egyptian court with operating beyond their scope and receiving illegal foreign funding.
But the issue regarding charges against the workers has not been settled, Nuland said.
“The departure of our people doesn’t resolve the legal case or the larger issues concerning the NGOs,” Nuland said, adding that the U.S. remains “deeply concerned about the prosecution of NGOs in Egypt and the ultimate outcome.”
American officials were initially perplexed by the travel ban and the subsequent criminal charges given that the NGOs had been operating legally in Egypt for years.
Officials had indicated that not resolving the travel ban and the criminal charges would damage relations between the two long-time partners and put at risk the $1.5 billion in annual aid that Egypt receives from the United States. Some $1.3 billion of that assistance is military aid.
The initial court date for the NGO workers took place on Sunday, but none of them showed up and the trial was adjourned until April 26.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio