CAIRO, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A British charity worker who
was barred from leaving Egypt last week over an investigation
into non-governmental organisations operating in the country was
cleared to return to Britain on Tuesday, sources at the airport
said.
The sources did not give details about Diane Diacon's work,
but she is listed as director of The Building and Social Housing
Foundation, according to the British charity's website. The
charity has worked on a housing project in southern Egypt.
The general prosecutor gave permission for Diacon to leave
Egypt after completing an investigation, the airport sources
said.
A total of 43 foreigners, mostly Americans, and locals have
been banned from leaving Egypt and their cases have been
referred to a criminal court in a row that has led Washington to
warn that $1.3 billion a year of military aid may be at risk.
One of the judges leading the investigation said the
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had violated Egyptian tax
laws by not declaring their income from abroad or paying taxes
on their workers' pay, and had carried out political activities
unrelated to their civil society work.
Some of those on the travel ban work for U.S.-funded NGOs,
including the National Democratic Institute and the
International Republican Institute, which have loose links to
the U.S. political parties.
One of those banned from travelling is the son of the U.S.
transportation secretary.
The travel bans were imposed because some of those wanted
for questioning left the country, the judge said.
"This kind of thing is a consequence of the anti-foreigner
discourse and is very damaging to Egypt's international
reputation and standing," a Western diplomat said of the Diacon
case. "There seems little apparent rationale for preventing Mrs
Diacon from leaving the country."
(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
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