Egypt’s campaign against pro-democracy and rights groups began late last year with raids by security forces on their offices. On Sunday, judges referred 19 Americans and 24 others to trial on accusations they illegally used foreign funds to foment unrest in the country.
The US has threatened to cut some $1.5 billion in aid to Egypt over the dispute.
Kamal El-Ganzouri said Wednesday that Western countries “turned against us” after the crackdown began.
He said Egypt “won’t back down or take a different route because of some aid or other.”
The US military's top general plans to fly to Egypt this week as the United States presses Cairo to lift criminal charges against the American pro-democracy activists, officials said Wednesday.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "is scheduled to travel to Egypt later this week," his spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said.
The "long-planned" visit includes meetings with his counterpart Lt. Gen. Sami Enan and the country's military ruler, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, he said.
"With the Egyptians, Gen. Dempsey will discuss common interests, choices and consequences," Lapan said in an email.
With the US military's deep, longstanding ties to Egypt's top brass, officials are hoping Dempsey will manage to persuade Cairo to back off a planned trial of foreigners who work with non-government organizations.
Egyptian justices have announced plans to put dozens of pro-democracy activists, including 19 Americans, on trial over alleged illegal funding to foreign aid groups.
The move has shaken the Egypt-US alliance that has anchored America's Middle East policy for a generation and helped keep the peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
Outraged over the charges, some senior US lawmakers have warned that Washington's aid to Egypt could be jeopardized if the prosecution goes ahead.
The US government currently provides about $1.3 billion a year in aid to Egypt, one of the biggest aid packages offered to any nation.
