EGYPT -- The Egyptian government on Sunday said it intends to prosecute at least 40 people, including Sam LaHood, son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.
LaHood is one of some 19 U.S. citizens who are subjects of an Egyptian investigation into nongovernmental organizations, state media reported Sunday.
Their alleged crime? Working in Egypt without a license and receiving foreign funds, what they have been doing for years with no problem. LaHood works at the National Republican Institute, which does pro-democracy work, funded by congress.
Today, the institute said the prosecution is "a politically motivated effort to squash Egypt's growing civil society."
The ruling military council that took over after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year has repeatedly accused "foreign hands" of meddling.
Just before New Years, 17 NGO's, including IRI were raided. Two weeks ago, LaHood and five other Americans were banned from leaving Egypt.
"We do not believe there is any basis for these investigations, these raids on the sites that the NGOs operate out of, the seizure of their equipment," said United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The military council is facing growing, and often violent calls for it to hand over power to a civilian government.
The deaths of 74 people at a soccer game on Thursday sparked these clashes.
Relations between the U.S. and Egypt have never been worse, and at risk here is not just that relationship, but $1.5 billion in American aid for Egypt, and most of it goes to the military.
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