CAIRO: The Egyptian minister seen as the prime mover behind the prosecution of pro-democracy activists, including Americans, insisted Thursday the case would proceed despite the lifting of a travel ban on the defendants.
 
Fayza Abul Naga, the international cooperation minister believed to have launched the probe into the activists' foreign non-governmental organisations, said the judiciary would appoint a new panel of judges after the previous one recused itself, the official MENA news agency reported.
 
"The trial of foreign funding in Egypt continues," she said. The defendants are accused of operating the NGOs without a licence and receiving illicit foreign funds.
 
The trial led to a rift with Washington, which demanded that Egypt drop the charges against activists, who include 19 Americans according to judicial sources..
 
The head of the Cairo appeals court Abdel Moez Ibrahim said on Thursday that the travel ban on the suspects had been lifted, provided they each paid two million pounds (roughly $330,000/247,000 euros) in bail.
 
The amount had been paid, he added in a statement published by MENA.
 
Several of the Americans have sought refuge in their Cairo embassy, including Sam LaHood, the head of the US-based International Republican Institute and son of US transportation secretary Ray LaHood.