'Last week’s lifting of a travel ban on a handful of US nationals accused of carrying out unlicensed NGO activities – and their subsequent departure from the country – triggered sharp reactions from parliamentarians on Sunday. A large number of members of the People’s Assembly – the lower house of Egypt's parliament – used scheduled meetings of parliamentary committees to vent their anger at the lifting of the travel ban and for what they called "the double standards" inherent in US policy.

Their anger comes one day after a joint session of the two houses of parliament – the People's Assembly and Shura Council – that saw MPs line up to condemn both the US and the government of Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri over the abrupt departure of the indicted American activists.'

Read more: Egyptian MPs Call for Severing Ties with US Over Departure of Indicted Foreigners