WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- The U.S. State Department said it is "deeply concerned" about Egyptian security forces' raids Thursday on offices of non-governmental organizations.
"We call on the Egyptian government to resolve this issue immediately and to end harassment of NGO staff as well as return all property," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said at a Washington news briefing.
Her comments came after Egypt said its security forces stormed the offices of 17 non-profit groups in the country as part of an investigation into the role of "foreign hands" in fomenting recent protests.
"This action is inconsistent with the bilateral cooperation we have had over many years," Nuland said. "We have been in touch with the American NGOs and with the government of Egypt at high levels."
In Cairo, The New York Times reported, heavily armed men in black uniforms carried away boxes and computers and prevented employees from leaving the offices of the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute -- both affiliated with American political parties and financed by the U.S. government. The Cairo offices of Freedom House, based in Washington, also were raided, the Times said.
Nuland said the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Anne W. Patterson, was to follow up with Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri to seek more information, and Jeffrey D. Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, had spoken with the Egyptian Embassy in Washington.
Meanwhile, Heba Morayef, a Human Rights Watch researcher in Cairo, called the raids "completely unprecedented," The Christian Science Monitor reported.
Morayef said rights organizations had been targeted under President Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in February, but never on such a scale.
"My biggest fear is that this is designed to crack down on the most independent organizations," says Morayef. "These organizations are dependent on foreign funding because they couldn't receive local funding under Mubarak. The NGO law should have been amended and wasn't."
The Times noted the raids came after an Egyptian government investigation into foreign financing of NGOs, and the military has suggested the funding played a role in inciting protests in hopes of toppling the country's government.
But casting serious doubt on the military rulers' claim, the newspaper noted the U.S. government provides Egypt's military $1.3 billion in annual aid.
