Egypt

Silent Majority group criticizes US defense of Egypt’s NGOs

The Voice of the Silent Majority group issued a statement on Saturday rejecting of the latest US statement regarding security inspection raids on NGOs and rights organizations in Cairo.

Security forces raided what it labeled "suspicious and unauthorized" organizations that work on Egyptian soil and under Egyptian law, said the group in a statement.

"We reject the barefaced intervention, and any honorable Egyptian rejects it," added the statement.  

On Thursday, security forces and public prosecutors stormed the headquarters of 17 non-governmental organizations, including several that receive US backing. The US government, meanwhile, hinted it could review the US$1.3 billion in annual US military aid to Egypt if the raids continued.
Egypt's official MENA news agency said the raid was part of a probe into foreign funding of civil society groups.
 
The Silent Majority group warned of foreign intervention in Egypt's internal affairs, saying: "The Egyptian national security is a red line that we do not allow be crossed or compromised."
 
The group criticized the US administration and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who condemned the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SACF) and the Egyptian government for the incident.
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and the US ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, spoke with top Egyptian officials, including the head of the SCAF on Friday to press US demands that the non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, be allowed to resume normal operations.
 
On Friday, around 30 local human rights watchdogs accused the SCAF of carrying out an "accountability operation" against the organizations and activists who had exposed the abuses of the SCAF during the transitional period.
 
The Silent Majority group called on the Egyptian people to stand behind the armed forces and the Egyptian government, adding that all groups and political forces should put conflicts aside and defend the country's interests.
 
"The enemy awaits us, and we have to be ready to defend Egypt by all means against the enemies of our nation at home and abroad," said the statement.
 

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