CAIRO (AFP) - A Cairo court on Monday sentenced 43 Egyptian and foreign employees of several non-governmental organisations to jail sentences ranging from one to five years for working without legal status.

The Cairo criminal court sentenced 27 defendants in absentia to five years.

Five defendants who were present in court, including one American, were sentenced to two years behind bars while the remaining 11 defendants were given one-year suspended sentences, an Agence France-Presse reporter in court said.