Proceedings against 43 pro-democracy campaigners accused of receiving illicit foreign funding were adjourned at a Cairo courthouse on Sunday, amid frantic diplomatic efforts by Washington to have the charges dropped.

At a chaotic session, from which the majority of defendants were absent, Judge Mahmoud Mohammed Shoukry postponed further proceedings until the end of April.

Those accused include 16 US citizens and two Germans, as well as activists from Jordan, Norway, Serbia and Palestine. Only five of the American workers are currently in Egypt - at the US embassy - including Sam LaHood, the son of US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Of the 16 Egyptian defendants, 13 were present in court and held in a metal cage, as is customary for Egyptian trials.

The two Germans, also reported to still be in Egypt, work for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, a center-right civic education group. German Foreign Minster Guido Westerwelle has repeatedly asked for the proceedings to be dropped and for the foundation to be allowed to continue its work.

'Politically motivated'

Police raided several of the groups' offices in December, confiscating equipment and sealing their doors.

Egyptian authorities claim several non-governmental groups trained civil society activists and political candidates using funds received illegally from abroad. Critics say the case is politically motivated because the groups have exposed alleged abuses by Egypt's military-led government.

A senior US official was reported as saying on Saturday that President Barack Obama's administration had been in "intense discussions" with Egypt to resolve the legal case "in the coming days."

Members of the US Congress have warned that the dispute could threaten the provision of $1.5 billion (1.2 billion euros) in annual aid to Egypt.

rc/cmk (AP, AFP, dpa, Reuters)