A court in Cairo has convicted 43 Egyptian and foreign employees of non-governmental (NGO) organisations for working illegally in Egypt. The court sentenced the defendants - most of them in absentia - to jail terms of up to five years. It also ordered the closure of offices and the seizure of assets in Egypt belonging to several US NGOs. The case - which began in 2012 - has strained relations between Cairo and Washington. US officials had threatened to cut off the roughly $1.5bn (£980m) in aid paid to Egypt every year. Raids On Tuesday, the Cairo court sentenced 27 defendants to five years in prison. Another five received two years and 11 were given one-year terms. Only five defendants, including one American national, were present in court. Most foreign defendants - nationals of the US, Germany, Serbia and Arab states - were able to leave the country last year after the authorities had lifted a travel ban against them. They include Sam LaHood, son of the US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. He received a five-year prison term. The defendants say they will appeal against the sentences, according to the AFP news agency. The court in the Egyptian capital also ordered the closure of a number of NGOs operating in Egypt, including the US-based International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI). Last year - when Egypt was under military rule following the removal of President Hosni Mubarak - police raided the IRI and NDI offices as well as a number of Egyptian NGOs. The NGOs had been accused of operating without licences and receiving illicit foreign funds - a charge they denied. Washington has so far made no public comment on the court's decision. Last week, human rights groups expressed concerns that a draft law backed by Egypt's Islamist President Mohammed Morsi would restrict the funding and activities of NGOs in the country. Egyptian officials rejected the claim as groundless.