By HAMZA HENDAWI | AP, ARABNEWS

File photo, protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

CAIRO: The USAID director in Egypt has abruptly flown back to Washington after less than a year on the job, the first major casualty of a row between the two longtime allies over American funding for pro-democracy groups.

Jim Bever left his post Thursday, a day after the Obama administration chastised Egypt’s leaders for stoking anti-American sentiment during the country’s rocky transition to democracy. In the rare public rebuke, the US said it had noticed mounting attacks and criticism of US aid and motives.

US Embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton said Bever was returning to Washington to take a “unique opportunity” as an instructor at the War College. “We are proud of Jim’s service in Egypt and grateful for his steady leadership during the time of transition.”

Bever has been at the center of a dispute over funding since March, when USAID — the American government organization that distributes international development aid — placed advertisements inviting nongovernmental groups in Egypt to apply for US funding. The ads attracted hundreds of applicants, who lined up outside USAID offices in a quiet suburb south of Cairo. Over the next few months, the American aid organization allocated millions of dollars to the groups.

This left the government seething. It insisted that the funding must go through official channels, and not directly to the groups. Those restrictions applied during the rule of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, whose government tightly controlled the process. READ MORE

Remarks: … and then there is always the CIA funding …and “Special Operations” …