Egypt vows to stem illegal foreign funding for NGOs

The Egyptian authorities detected direct funding from some embassies in Cairo to registered and unregistered non-government organizations, an official said on Sunday.
"This funding runs counter to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and we will take a decisive action against it," Assistant Foreign Minister for the Americas Affairs Mohammad Farid Munib said during his meeting with a number of North American and Latin American ambassadors.
The meeting took place in the wake of a terrorist attack which claimed the lives of dozens of military personnel in North Sinai, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.
The state authorities, including the Foreign Ministry, will take an appropriate action against the illegal foreign funding for NGOs and the terrorist attacks which aim to destabilize the country, Munib told the diplomats.
He noted that the shutting down of Rafah border crossing with Gaza Strip and the declaration of the three-month state of emergency in North Sinai were part of the security measures meant to combat terrorism.
He affirmed the commitment of the security services to human rights, noting that some military operations in certain locations were cancelled due to suspicion that there could be some innocent civilians.
He called on the American countries to support Egypt in the fight against terrorism which, he said, is closely related to the international fight against the ISIL.