Americans banned from leaving Egypt engage in activities previously performed by the CIA

[NNN0LHI]

http://new.kuwaittimes.net/2012/01/26/egypt-bans-a-number-of-americans-from-leaving/

Egypt bans a number of Americans from leaving

Saturday, January 28, 2012

CAIRO: Egypt has banned the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and a number of other Americans from leaving the country as tensions rise over moves by Egyptian authorities to restrict the work of international rights organizations.

The State Department’s top human right official, Michael Posner, told reporters in Cairo that the apparent campaign against pro-democracy groups raised concerns about Egypt’s transition to democracy after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster and warned it could affect future assistance to Egypt, one of the largest recipients of US aid.

Sam LaHood, who heads the International Republican Institute in Egypt, was recently kept from boarding a flight out of Egypt. LaHood’s father, a former congressman from Illinois, is transportation secretary and the most prominent Republican in President Barack Obama’s administration. The IRI was one of 10 organizations raided last month by Egyptian security forces, who carried off computers and boxes of files and interrogated staff members. The US and the UN denounced the raids, but the Egypt defended them as part of a legitimate investigation into whether the groups were operating legally in Egypt.

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http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=International_Republican_Institute

International Republican Institute

From SourceWatch

The International Republican Insitute (IRI) is one of the components of the National Endowment for Democracy by which it seeks to influence political outcomes and civic society in lesser developed countries around the world. Its efforts are to channel politics and civic society to promote a neoliberal economic and political model; NED/IRI also engage in activities previously performed by the CIA. IRI is mainly funded by U.S. State Department, U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for Democracy. IRI is loosely affiliated to the Republican party – which doesn’t provide any of its funding.

IRI's stated mission is to "support the growth of political and economic freedom, good governance and human rights around the world by educating people, parties and governments on the values and practices of democracy." However, it has also been linked to efforts to foment a violent military coup in Haiti. Max Blumenthal reports that Stanley Lucas is the program officer for the IRI's Haiti program.


IRI in Egypt

On 29 December 2011, Egyptian authorities invaded the offices of various NGOs seeking to transform the political and civil society structure in the country, i.e., IRI, National Democratic Institute, Freedom House, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Budgetary and Human Rights Observatory. All these groups are funded directly or indirectly by the US and German governments. IRI's press release on the incident reveals that IRI has been active in Egypt since 2005. IRI's account of its activities in the country are:

IRI works with Egyptian activists to strengthen their knowledge of political party development, campaign strategy and public opinion research. IRI also provides civil society groups with trainings on how to hold municipal councils accountable.

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1. IRI is based in Washington, D.C., and it maintains offices around the world, including:

Africa
Angola[6]
Kenya[6]
Nigeria[6]
Somaliland[6]
South Africa[7][6]
South Sudan[6]
Zimbabwe[6]

Asia
Dili, East Timor
Jakarta, Indonesia
Phnom Phen, Cambodia
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Latin America
Bolivia[8]
Cuba[8]
Colombia[8]
Ecuador[8]
Honduras[8]
Mexico[8]
Nicaragua[8]
Venezuela[8]
Guatamala[8]
Peru[8]

Middle East & North Africa
Afghanistan[9]
Cairo, Egypt[9]
Arab League[9]
Oman[9]
UAE[9]
Iraq [9]
Jordan[9]
Libya[9]
Pakistan[9]
Tunisia[9]
Israeli Occupied Territories[9]

Central and Eastern Europe
Belgrade, Serbia
Bratislava, Slovakia
Bucharest, Romania
Istanbul, Turkey
Skopje, Macedonia
Sofia, Bulgaria
Tirana Albania
Zagreb, Croatia
Former Soviet Union
Azerbaijan[10]
Belarus[10]
Georgia[10]
Kazakhstan[10]
Kyrgyz Republic[10]
Moldova[10]
Russia[10]
Ukraine

Missing from that list amongst others - Syria, Yemen, Bahrain