A U.S. Naval medical research team has been manipulating Egyptians' DNA and poisoning its citizens for 60 years, according to a translation of an article published Friday in the Egyptian daily Al-Wafd. The verbal barrage against U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit Three [NAMRU-3] was identified by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and is part of a growing Egyptian backlash against the American government.

The newspaper is published by Egypt's Al-Wafd party, considered an influential liberal group.

The Al-Wafd article paints a scene of a shadowy American government agency behind all major disease outbreaks in recent Egyptian and African history. The report claims that American doctors use Egyptian children as lab rats, possibly created AIDS in Africa, and that "American hands" may have been "behind the increase in infertility, mental retardation, and disability among Egyptians born in recent years."

The most nefarious research has made Egyptians' genetics vulnerable to enemy attack. "They can also manipulate these Egyptian genes, alter their traits, and deform them by means of American medicines or vaccines that are sold dirt cheap to the poor Egyptian people, along with crop seeds and food products," the article says.

This endangers Egypt because NAMRU-3 "has in its possession all the Egyptian genetic specifications and compounds and their hereditary trait, alongside an arsenal of components for lethal biological weapons." These are controlled by Israel and can be handed over to it at any time.

Another recent conspiracy, involving Egyptian suspicions of American pro-democracy workers, has also hurt relations. Last month, Egypt's military shut down 17 offices of pro-democracy and human rights groups, including the prominent American organization, which it accused of being behind recent unrest in Egypt. The crisis has accelerated and the son of Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, along with two other workers at the democracy-promoting International Republican Institute, have taken refuge in the American embassy.

The conspiracy accusations go a long way towards damaging American support for Egypt. "We've reached a crisis point in the relationship," said Charles Dunne, head of Mideast programs for Freedom House. "This is the last thing needed by the Egyptians, who depend on U.S. help … and it's just bewildering to the administration."