Statement from Senator Kent Conrad on Lifting of Ban that Allows North Dakota Native Staci Haag to Leave Egypt

Press Release

Senator Kent Conrad made the following statement after North Dakota native Staci Haag and several other American non-governmental organization (NGO) workers who had been prevented from leaving Egypt were allowed to exit the country today.

"This is wonderful news. Staci sent me an email this morning letting me know that she was safe and at the airport getting ready to leave Egypt. I am glad that this situation has been resolved and Staci is able to leave Egypt. However, she should never have been detained in the first place and we need to continue to work to clear her name. Staci and her colleagues have done nothing wrong and should be allowed to continue their work in Egypt and enter and leave the country freely."

Haag, of Fargo, is a resident director for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) a nonprofit, nonpartisan NGO that works to support democracy in foreign countries. She had been in Egypt assisting with the country's transition to democracy and was prevented from leaving the country after Egyptian authorities cracked down on pro-democracy NGOs.

Senator Conrad had been pushing the Egyptian government to lift the travel restrictions for Haag and her colleagues and wrote to Egypt's ambassador in the United States to express his concern about the situation.

Source