US funds NGOs in Egypt to create chaos

Egypt's Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Fayza Abul-Naga told the investigating judges that the United States funded non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Egypt to create chaos in the country, Egyptian state media reported Monday.

"Washington tried to contain the Jan. 25 revolution and directed it to achieve U.S.-Israeli interests in Egypt," official news agency MENA quoted Naga as saying in her testimony to the investigations run by the Egyptian Justice last October over the foreign funding for the NGOs.

The direct foreign funding for Egyptian and U.S. NGOs reached 175 million U.S. dollars from February to September 2011.

Naga added that most of the funds went to political objectives and were unilaterally deducted from U.S. economic aids to Egypt, while the funds were designated for developmental projects in heath, education and water fields.

Naga said that after the unrest in January 2011, the United States decided to use all its resources and instruments to contain the situation in Egypt, and direct them to promote U.S. and Israeli interests.

She added that all signs reflected a desire to beat any chance for Egypt to rise as a democratic country with strong economy, because such steps will threat U.S.-Israel interests not only in Egypt, but also in the whole region.

"It is hard for the United States and Israel to create chaos in Egypt directly, so they used the direct funding for other organizations to implement their aims," the report said.

Naga revealed the NGOs were keen to attract certain classes in the Egyptian society, mostly university students, labors and journalists, to stir up continuous disputes and chaos.

The Egyptian Justice Ministry recently referred 44 activists, including 19 Americans, to trials over the NGOs, which put Egyptian-U.S. relations in jeopardy as the United States threatens to end their military and economic aids to Egypt.