EXCLUSIVE-U.S. couples face trial over baby buying in Egypt

By Cynthia Johnston

CAIRO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Two U.S. couples have been charged in Egypt with buying babies for illegal adoption in the first known case in this country involving foreigners, highlighting a practice which experts say can easily go undetected.

A third U.S. couple is accused of obtaining a forged birth certificate for a child and trying to use it to obtain a U.S. visa, according to legal documents and security sources.

Egyptian authorities have jailed two of the couples pending trial, including two U.S. citizens and their Egyptian spouses, and one couple is believed to be in the United States with the baby they obtained in Egypt, security sources said.

The trial will begin on March 14.

Rights activists confirm trafficking in infants and young children takes place in the most populous Arab country, and infants in orphanages and babies of street girls are at highest risk of being trafficked, often to infertile couples.

"I don't think it is a very common thing. I can't say it is very rare, but there are obviously cases that are taking place," said Nadra Zaki, a child protection specialist at UNICEF. "It is usually related to children born out of wedlock."

The current case involves four infants. It came to light after an Egyptian and her American husband approached the U.S. embassy in Cairo to arrange to take two of the babies out of Egypt, according to the indictment.

It said the couple agreed with an orphanage worker "to buy two newborn infants, a girl and a boy, in exchange for 26,000 pounds", or $4,673, and received forged papers for the children.