Egypt’s military ruler Field Marshal Hussein “Tantawi has assured us they are working very diligently to resolve the NGO issue,” he told a news conference in Cairo during a visit aimed at defusing the row between the traditional allies.

“We approach the issue of the NGOs with some guarded optimism that this issue will be resolved fairly soon,” McCain said, adding that the visiting US delegation was “not making threats” but seeking “mutuality of interests.”

The timing of the report’s release suggests that the Egyptian generals have no plans to drop charges against 16 Americans, including the son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, in a criminal case that could unravel three decades of close bilateral ties. Washington has threatened to cut Egypt’s annual $1.3 billion military aid package if the matter isn’t resolved.

Analysts say, however, that the generals may be more focused on how prosecuting the case will help them guard their domestic interests than on the fallout in relations with the United States.

The Americans are among 43 defendants who are accused of illegally receiving foreign money in a politically charged case against local and overseas-based nongovernmental organizations that have pushed for democratic reform before and since Mubarak’s ouster a year ago. Authorities raided the groups’ offices Dec. 29 and later imposed a travel ban on the accused.

The report carried by the state-run MENA service quoted Fayza Aboul Naga, the Cabinet minister who’s leading the NGO crackdown, as telling a judge in the probe that the United States and Israel wanted to hijack the Egyptian revolution by throwing cash at Western-friendly NGOs.

Aboul Naga singled out American NGOs by name, according to the report. She said the International Republican Institute, whose Egypt program director is LaHood’s son, aimed to impose the Republican Party’s agenda on Cairo. She dismissed Freedom House, another of the targeted NGOs, as doing the bidding of “a Jewish lobby” that targets nations that speak critically of U.S. policy in the Middle East.

“The events spun out of U.S. control and transformed into a revolution, which is why the United States decided at that time to work with all possible resources and tools to contain the situation and direct it toward the best interests of the U.S. and Israel as well,” Aboul Naga was quoted as saying.

MENA reported that the investigating judges on the case had found that Washington had cut economic aid to Egypt in order to fund pro-American political factions. The judges, according to the report, found that the United States had offered “huge sums” of money to Egyptian and American NGOs that “far exceeded” what those groups had received from 2005 to 2010.

The latest death, announced by the health ministry, brings the toll to 13 since the violence erupted on Thursday.

Roads around the interior ministry were blanketed in smoke as police fired off regular rounds of tear gas, an AFP reporter said.

The decision to give the individuals shelter indicates a new low in the relations between Cairo and Washington, which recently threatened to stop its $1.3 billion in annual aid to the Egyptian military if it failed to take steps toward a democratic transition, including respecting such nongovernmental groups.

Word of the embassy’s decision came as Egypt’s ruling military council began taking steps to address the fraying relations by sending a delegation of officers to the United States for meetings this week with their military counterparts, legislators and other officials. The delegation was in Tampa, Fla., on Monday, visiting the Central Command headquarters.

Officials at the American Embassy declined to comment on the decision to shelter the Americans, first reported Monday in The Washington Post. The report followed the disclosure last week that the Egyptian government had barred at least six American employees of the groups from leaving the country.

Those six work for the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, two democracy-building groups with close ties to United States Congressional leaders. The groups are under a criminal investigation by the Egyptian authorities over allegations that they violated rules on foreign funding.

It was unclear how many of the Americans had sought refuge in the embassy. One source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said there were three, all from the International Republican Institute, who had become concerned because of news reports that the investigation was nearly completed and that they might be arrested. It was also unclear what would happen if the Egyptian authorities pressed charges, since the sheltered Americans do not have diplomatic immunity.

The dispute over the activity of the groups and the status of their employees comes as American officials stepped up their public calls for the military council to hand over power to civilians as soon as possible, as it had promised when it took over with the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak last year.

The military-led interim government, meanwhile, has often suggested that the United States was financing nonprofit groups that it alleged were behind protests meant to destabilize Egypt or bring down the state. Generals on the ruling military council have said the investigation of the American-backed nonprofit groups will shed light on the origins of those protests.

The military council responded over the weekend to the reports that three top Washington lobbyists representing Egypt had resigned Friday over the crackdown on the democracy-building groups. On Sunday, the military-led government said that the lobbyists had not quit but were let go as a cost-cutting measure.

In a possible sign of a shift in the military council’s thinking, however, Egyptian state media reported over the weekend that Egypt’s military rulers had asked a panel of advisers for suggestions about handing over power to civilians earlier than the scheduled deadline at the end of June.

The uprising in January 2011 that ended dictator Hosni Mubarak’s 29-year rule has been followed by free elections and the seating Monday of a new parliament. But the revolution that brought hundreds of thousands of Egyptians to Tahrir Square has not brought prosperity and has yet to end worries about government oppression.

As the anniversary of the uprising approaches Wednesday, Egypt’s joblessness is rising, and tourism, a major source of foreign income, has declined drastically. The economy is hobbled by state controls that benefit the politically favored, according to the Index of Economic Freedom.

Democratic changes that brought the first free and fair elections in decades have handed control of parliament to Islamist parties that want Egypt governed by some form of religious law. Egypt’s military, which has been running the country, has yet to surrender all political power or revoke abusive Mubarak-era laws.

“Looking generally at human rights violations, I would say the number has gone up, not down,” said Shahira Abu Leil of No Military Trials for Civilians, an Egyptian human rights group.

Monday, newly elected lawmakers took the oath of office in the inaugural session of parliament. Protesters on the street demonstrated against the military council and complained about the Islamist majority in parliament.

Despite the problems, many Egyptians point out that the revolution has done much good by ridding Egypt of rigged elections and a dictator.

“This was the first time in my life that I voted in elections,” said Nasser Mahmoud, 32, who leads tours on a horse and yellow carriage.

The revolution, however, has not ended strife nor oppression.

Security forces have used violence against protesters for months. More than 12,000 people have been tried in military, not civilian, courts. Egyptians live under Emergency Law, in which people can be detained without trial.

Also worrisome, analysts expect a power struggle between the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and the military council, which looks to retain power.

Among the biggest concerns is “containing the political and economic role of the army,” said Samer Soliman, assistant professor of political economy at the American University in Cairo.

Many Egyptians say the nation’s police forces must be purged of those who were hated agents of Mubarak’s regime and helped enforce his rule. “They need to be trained to be the (servants) of the people,” Soliman said.

In Giza, the political instability has proved poisonous to people’s livelihoods.

Tarek Mohammad and his family sold 10 of the 15 horses in their business because they couldn’t afford to feed them. His employees’ salaries have been cut in half, so workers make about $80 each month, less than minimum wage.

“The economy has changed for the worse for the most part, and this is a reflection of continuous instability,” said Magda Kandil, executive director of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies.

Amateur video shot in Tahrir Square in central Cairo shows a soldier in riot gear stamping on her chest before another stoops to cover up her bare flesh.

Other footage – also widely circulated using social media – shows an army officer firing a pistol as he runs at demonstrators, although it is not clear whether he is using live ammunition.

Inevitably, questions have been asked about the brutality used by the security forces to break up what was – until Friday – a relatively peaceful sit-in against military rule on the edge of Tahrir Square.

There was international condemnation from the likes of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

At a hastily convened news conference, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces was on the defensive.

It expressed regret for the experiences of the woman activist who was partly undressed, and promised an investigation.

But it then went on to suggest that people were abusing their democratic right to protest to cause “chaos”.

It said that in recent days it had only sought to defend the nation’s institutions from attack – including the cabinet building and parliament.

‘Methodical plot’

Pictures were shown of youths ransacking public property.

“What are we supposed to do when protesters break the law? Should we invite people from abroad to govern our nation?” asked Maj-Gen Adel Emara.

“There is a methodical and prepared plot to topple the state, but Egypt will not fall.”

In a dramatic moment during the conference, Maj-Gen Emara suggested that a plot to burn down parliament had just been uncovered and that a huge crowd was standing by in Tahrir Square to carry out the plan.

Hosni Mubarak may be gone but the anger on the streets remains

Actually, several hundred protesters had gathered at a nearby mosque for the funeral of an activist killed overnight.

The competing narratives of events that have unfolded since Friday only highlight the deepening divisions that exist in Egyptian society.

Activists genuinely fear that the army is trying to keep control of the levers of power and are continuing to demand an immediate transfer to civilian rule.

Yet the military is counting on the support of the wider public. It believes they are satisfied with the fact that parliamentary elections are proceeding relatively smoothly.

The second round, which took place in nine governorates last week, produced an official turnout of 67%.

Many Egyptians are worried that the spiral of violence could spin out of control and they look to the armed services as a stabilising force.

Some I have spoken to also buy the propaganda and conspiracy theories that protesters are taking money from former lawmakers and businessmen.

They readily accept the way they were labelled – “counter-revolutionaries” – by new Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzuri.

As Ibrahim al-Fayed returned to Tahrir Square for the latest demonstrations, he remained resolute but admitted the growing danger of losing the PR battle.

“People were definitely moved by the pictures they saw after the weekend but the problem is they are being told by the government that they should not have any sympathy for us,” he said.

“The minute they announce the final election results, they won’t want to see a single protester on the streets.”

“It was the most frightening experience of my life, I believe,” Derrik Sweeney said.

Speaking to The Associated Press by Skype from Jefferson City, Mo., Sweeney said the evening of Nov. 20 started peacefully in Cairo, with Tahrir Square “abuzz with ideas of democracy and freedom.”

The three wandered the streets and wound up in a large group of protesters outside the Interior Ministory, Sweeney said. The demonstrations escalated, with the protesters yelling and perhaps throwing stones, he said.

“Eventually the police shot back something, I’m not exactly sure what,” he said. “We didn’t wait to see. But as soon as we saw some sort of firing coming from the gun and heard it, the whole crowd stampeded out and we sprinted away.”

He said they fled to an area that seemed calmer and were approached by four or five Egyptians in plain clothes.

The Egyptians offered to lead them to safety but instead took them into custody, Sweeney said.

They were threatened to be force-fed gasoline, beaten and forced to lie in a near-fetal position in the dark for six hours with their hands in cuffs behind their backs, Sweeney said. He said they were told: “If you move or make any noise, we will shoot you.”

“They were hitting us in the face and in the back of the neck,” he said. “Not to the point of bleeding or I can’t say I have any lasting major scars at this point, but they were hitting us.”

Sweeney is 19 and studies at Georgetown University. He was arrested along with Luke Gates, 21, who attends Indiana University and is from Bloomington, Ind., and Gregory Porter, 19, who studies at Drexel University and is from Glenside, Pa.

The students flew home Saturday after an Egyptian court ordered their release two days earlier. The three were studying abroad at American University in Cairo, which is near Tahrir Square.

A popular uprising earlier this year forced out Egypt’s longtime autocratic leader, Hosni Mubarak. But the democratic age that Egyptians hoped for has not followed. The military is in control, and protesters want it to hand power to civilians.

At least 43 protesters have been killed since Nov. 19 and 2,000 wounded, most of them in Cairo. Landmark parliamentary elections will start Monday.

Egyptian officials said they arrested the three students on the roof of a university building and accused them of throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

But Sweeney denies doing anything to harm anyone and said he and the other Americans weren’t ever on the roof or handling or throwing explosives.

“I don’t know where that rooftop idea actually came from,” he said. “We were never on a rooftop, we never entered a building. The American University campus building on that street where we were arrested — there were a lot of people that had broken in there, it was swarmed with protesters — but we were not on there. We were on a street.”

In an earlier telephone interview with the AP after he arrived at St. Louis’ international airport, Sweeney said he and the other students’ treatment improved dramatically after the first night. He spoke with a U.S. Embassy official, his mother and a lawyer. He said he denied the accusations during what he called proper questioning by Egyptian authorities.

“An Egyptian team will give a taekwondo performance on the sidelines of the tournament,” adds Dr Park. He hopes that the cultural activities organised by the Korean Embassy will help boost the already friendly relations and co-operation between the two countries.

The activist, Alaa Abdel-Fattah, was ordered held by the military a day earlier for questioning. The military says he is suspected of inciting Christian protesters to attack soldiers during an Oct. 9 protest in Cairo that turned into the bloodiest violence since the February fall of President Hosni Mubarak.

His supporters dismiss the claim, saying the military is trying to silence a prominent critic and to deflect blame on its soldiers in the violence, which left 27 dead — most of them Christians — when troops cracked down on the protest.

In Monday evening’s march, the crowd shouted, “Down, down with military rule” and “Alaa, we’re behind you, don’t stop,” as they moved into central Tahrir Square, then headed toward Cairo’s main police station, where Abdel-Fattah is being held.