Until a popular revolt put his control of Egypt in jeopardy, President Hosni Mubarak had kept a tight grip on power and billions of dollars in U.S. aid flowing with few strings attached, in part by re-taining three of Washington's most high-powered lobbyists.Since Egypt hired the lobbyists in 2007, Congress softened a condi-tion on the foreign aid, added in 2005 over Mubarak's objections, that barred his government from choosing which pro-democracy groups should receive $20 million of Egypt's $1.8 billion in U.S. aid.
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