US 'deeply concerned' as Egypt activists said to face trial The United States said Sunday it was "deeply concerned" at the news that dozens of activists including 19 Americans could go on trial in Egypt over the alleged illegal funding of aid groups. "We have seen media reports that judicial officials in Egypt intend to forward a number of cases involving US-funded NGOs to the Cairo criminal court," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "We are deeply concerned by these reports and are seeking clarification from the government of Egypt," Nuland told reporters traveling with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In Cairo, a judicial source told AFP that 44 people would face trial, one day after Washington said it would review aid to Cairo if it pursued its months-long crackdown on non-governmental organisations. The offices of several local and international NGOs including Freedom House and the International Republican Institute were raided in December by Egyptian authorities as part of a probe into alleged illegal funding. Then last month, Egypt barred some US members of the NGOs from leaving the country and American officials said "a handful" subsequently took refuge inside the US embassy, fearing arrest. "The Egyptian military's handling of this issue has been a disaster," said Charles Dunne, director for Middle East and North Africa programs for Freedom House. "This represents another escalation by the Egyptian government in its war on civil society -- and it's not just the US organisations, it's the Egyptian organisations," he told AFP.