Sydney Morning Herald | Link to story  »

Egyptian authorities have raided the offices of 17 domestic and international human rights and democracy organisations, in a sharp intensification of the military's crackdown that recalled the tactics of the country's ousted authoritarian president, Hosni Mubarak.

Among the offices raided and closed were those of the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, two groups that receive US government funding and had been helping Egyptian political parties in their campaigns for the recent parliamentary elections, the first since Mr Mubarak resigned in February. The third and final round of those elections is scheduled to begin next week.

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