CAIRO ( An Egyptian court gave jail terms to 15 Americans - outrage in Washington )

CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian court gave jail terms to 43 Americans, Europeans, Egyptians and other Arabs on Tuesday in a case against democracy promotion groups that plunged U.S.-Egyptian ties into their worst crisis in decades.

Judge Makram Awad gave five-year sentences in absentia to at least 15 U.S. citizens who left Egypt last year. He sentenced an American who stayed behind to two years in prison and gave the same sentence to a German woman.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry harshly criticized the decision, calling it "incompatible with the transition to democracy" and a violation of the government's commitment to support civil society as it emerges from years of authoritarian rule by close U.S. ally former President Hosni Mubarak.

Beginning in late 2011, Egypt's crackdown on organizations which included U.S.-based groups linked to America's two main political parties caused outrage in Washington, which supplies Cairo with $1.3 billion in military aid each year.

The court ordered the closure of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the case, including the U.S.-based International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI) and Freedom House.

Both NDI and IRI plan to challenge the verdict.
In Washington, the State Department issued a tough statement in Kerry's name but did not hint at any consequences - such as a cut in U.S. assistance to Egypt - as a result of the verdict.
"The United States is deeply concerned by the guilty verdicts and sentences ... handed down by an Egyptian court today against 43 NGO representatives in what was a politically-motivated trial," he said.
"The decision to close these organizations' offices and seize their assets contradicts the government of Egypt's commitments to support the role of civil society as a fundamental actor in a democracy," he added.