Ayman Nour: One year since Obama’s inauguration

Barack Hussein Obama has made history since he became the first black person to win a seat in the U.S. Senate and made history for the second time when he won the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Presidential election. He has since made more history when he scored victory in the elections, becoming the first black American President in history.

But making history is different than entering this space and formulating the wide consequences resulted from this victory, as before Obama, American President James Buchanon also made history as the first and the only president to remain a lifelong bachelor, as well as President Martin Van Buren, considering English was not his mother tongue.

Obama’s real problem from the moment of his inauguration last January 20, 2009, is that he began a new phase, which is greater than making history; a difficult stage of the competition, much harder than the old Republican rivals or even his stubborn Democratic rival – and his current Secretary of State – Hilary Clinton, or with his predecessor: Bush.

Obama’s rival after one year in office is himself. He is the only person he cannot defeat, as Obama, the current President of the United States, is a rival to Obama – who was described by the dreamy minds as “the savior”; minds that painted the image of Obama and put it in the background of the image. They drew the descriptions of Moses splitting the sea and Joshua who stopped the sun, and Christ, who revives the dead! And certainly, Obama is not any of these prophets.

Although America is part of the world – and not the whole world – Obama has become a universal dream, especially considering the other was a universal nightmare. Strangely enough, and dangerous, is the conflicting expectations about Obama from related parties whose positions have conflicting interests and can only be unified by hope and ambition in this “magical” image. They have planted in their imagination of Barack Obama, who has to find an impossible approach to fulfill this imagination.

Obama’s problem, who had plenty of sympathy in Egypt and many Arab countries is doubled due to historical considerations and past experience with former presidents of the US, who at the beginning were greeted by them [Arabs], then they called on for their impeachment.

At the end of World War I President Woodrow Wilson made the 12 principles his priority. The last of these principles was the right of every nation to self-determination and Egypt’s Revolution in 1919 was against the British occupation of Egypt, demanding the right to self-determination, and the demonstrators shouted slogans honoring Saad Zaghloul (revolutionary leader) and Mr. Wilson.

In Syria, demonstrations demanded an American Mandate in the hope of the promise of Wilson.

Suddenly, President Wilson recognized the British protégé in Egypt, and demonstrations were organized to call for his impeachment, after it was organized in the beginning to cheer his life! The same thing happened in Syria, when he recognized the French Mandate of Syria and Lebanon!

When President Roosevelt declared the Four Freedoms, the motivation of Arabs turned from Hitler to America, then Truman succeeded Roosevelt, to recognize Israel, breaking Roosevelt’s promises during World War II, causing a shock to the Arabs and a shift in their feelings as they were frustrated.

This happened in 1956, when America gained its popularity back, for its stance against the tripartite aggression on Egypt, the popularity that has soon faded away because of America’s rejection in financing the construction of the High Dam.

When the Egyptian-American relations were restored, the Egyptian people welcomed President Nixon in an unprecedented event, then Carter remained to hold a special place in the hearts of Egyptians until America’s constant bias with Israel, which has been the cause of the deterioration of the Egyptian-American Rapprochement for years.

Obama’s real rival is the image of Obama himself, people who chant for his favor may in fact chant and shout against him. Only if he decided to read history well to be able to make it again after one year has already been lost.

BM

The Arabist - Ayman Nour released

Ayman Nour released

Ayman Nour on the campaign trail in Menouf, 2005.

The public prosecutor’s office declared a couple of hours ago that Ayman Nour would be released on medical grounds. I have heard he is now home. There is no further information as to why now, or why previous appeals to release him on medical ground were denied, but this appears to be a political decision. Rather strange timing that this happens a couple of days after the Washington Post urges the Obama administration not to deal with Hosni Mubarak unless Nour is freed.

Let’s assume – with all due respect to the integrity of the Egyptian legal system – that this is a political decision. What’s the rationale? I think the most plausible explanation is that it is not just an overture to Obama that Mubarak wants to change the negative dynamic in the US-Egypt relationship. It is a clear message that says, “look: Bush tried for four years to pressure me. But I do things on my own timing and any pressure is counterproductive.” The message is, before Obama and his administration settle into a clear approach on Egypt (I don’t think the NSC staffer on Egypt has even been appointed yet), that if the same US approach to Egypt continues, it will only generate headaches. It was necessary to release Nour to improve the bilateral relationship, since after the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress the Ayman Nour case became a congressional issue beyond the control of the administration (in fact Dick Cheney tried to intervene to calm down Congress, and was pushed back.) Over the last two years Congress has put unprecedented (even if still relatively mild) pressure on Egypt by withholding $100 million in military aid (but giving Condoleeza Rice the right to waiver the withholding, which she did twice). Now Congress will not have Ayman Nour to rally support around this, and the cautious State and DoD approach to the Egyptian relationship (which is very strong in military, intelligence, and a few issues aside diplomatic terms) could very well prevail – especially as we’re seeing a new Egyptian crackdown on the tunnels to Gaza, the other big issue for Congress.

So what happens now? Well, Obama staffers have a token sign of progress they can point to, and a lesson that the Bush approach failed. Congress has what it wants. Ayman Nour, under Egyptian law, is now no longer able to run for public office as he has a criminal record. The Ghad party has been torn in half and will take time to rebuild. The legislative and political environment is much worse than it was when Nour first emerged as a national figure in 2004-2005, and repression is taking place much more brutally and systematically. So, most probably, we will see US pressure on democratic reform die down, since policymakers will find it difficult to get support for another direct confrontation with the Egyptian regime. They will wait and see what happens after succession. And for Mubarak, patience and sheer stubbornness won in the end. Which goes to prove that “democracy promotion” is a policy that’s in need of a serious rethink: “pressure” doesn’t really work, and autocracies have time on their side – unless those doing the pressuring are willing to make a serious break with past practices.

For now, I wish Ayman the best and am tremendously happy for his family, especially his brave wife Gameela who fought against all odds for so many years.

Imprisoned Egyptian Liberal Oppositionist Ayman Nour Writes Open Letter to Barack Obama

Imprisoned Egyptian liberal oppositionist Dr. Ayman Nour recently wrote an open letter to U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

The following is the letter in its entirety, in the original English, as posted on freeaymannour.org, and dated June 15, 2008: [1]

"[I Am] A Human Being, About Your Age, Who Was - And Still Is - Dreaming... of Change and Reform... In Our Countries Legitimate Dreams Turn Into Horrifying Nightmares!!"

"Senator Barack Obama

"Democratic Candidate, U.S. Presidency

"Dear Sir: These lines, which I'm not certain will see the light or reach you, were written behind the walls of an old prison in the south of Cairo. This may be the oldest prison in Egypt and the Middle East. The writer of these lines is a human being, about your age, who was - and still is - dreaming like you of change and reform in his country, this legitimate dream. However, in our countries legitimate dreams turn into horrifying nightmares!!

"Senator Barack Obama

"- The writer of these lines is Dr. Ayman Nour,

"- Born on 5^th December 1964

"- Obtained a law degree in 1985 then obtained a PhD in Constitutional Law in 1995.

"- Worked in various fields, including law, journalism and human rights as I've founded the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the oldest and first civil organization that monitored human rights violations in Egypt.

"- Became a parliament member in Egypt in 1995 for the Middle Cairo area, the oldest and most densely-populated area in Cairo. My parliament membership continued (for 10 years) till I was imprisoned in 2005.

"- In 2004 I founded Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) liberal party after four rejections from the state.

"- I ran for the first presidential elections in Egypt's history in 2005 as candidate for the party I had founded and been elected leader of. I came in second to the current (and previous) president (1981 - 2008) in the presidential election among 10 parties. My campaign motto was "Hope for change"!!

"- The official charge in the documents is a claim that I was aware that forged powers of attorney were submitted to the state among the party establishing documents. It may surprise you to learn that the Egyptian law requires no more than 50 powers of attorney from any 50 Egyptian citizens!! We submitted thousands of powers of attorney which we had received from citizens. Although the charges were naïve, lacked logic and procedures were null because they violated my parliament immunity, the state assigned the case to a prosecution specialized in political cases (State Security Prosecution) then referred the case to a particular judge which specializes in political cases. This same judge had sentenced Saad Eddin Ibrahim and other Egyptian opposition figures to prison. He sentenced me to five years with labor in December 2005, in addition to prohibiting me from practicing any political, parliament or party profession or work for six years following the sentence!!

"- The real charge is that I committed the crime of dreaming of change!! That and competing with the president who had been ruling Egypt for 27 years!! I threatened his ream to hand down Egypt to his son who seeks to rule for another 27 years and monopolize the mechanisms of peaceful circulation of power

"Between the naïve and fake official charge and the real charge there was a considerable government package of political accusations that the official, government media sought to promote against me, all of which claim that I am supported by the United States of America's reform agenda in the region to achieve a model similar to that of Iraq!!

"This claim may be supported by a set of lies and rumors, in addition to only one truth, the fact that the U.S. Congress, Administration and media object to the injustice and revenge I and my party were and continue to be subject to, as my party also got a serious and hidden share of unfair measures."

"[My] First Presidential Campaign... Showed a Fetus That Had Started Moving and Coming to Life in the Womb of This Nation"

"Senator Obama: My real crime and the crime of the Al-Ghad liberal party is that we spoiled an old ongoing equation that the regime and party that has been ruling Egypt since 1952 have been promoting that they are the only choice in the face of the religious alternative represented in political Islam movements, particularly Muslim Brotherhood. Between the founding of Al-Ghad party in October 2004 and the presidential election in September 2005 we have provided practical and shocking evidence that an opposition liberal secular party can succeed to become a third party between an oppressive state and the Islamist Movement... a young alternative to an ageing regime, a popular and modern alternative to a domesticated opposition that has become marginalized, and a reasonable alternative that possesses the dream and the ability to fulfill this dream without disturbing the principle and priority of stability!!

"During that first presidential campaign that lasted for only 18 days we have presented a model of an election campaign that was the poorest ever but the most capable of awakening stagnant dreams and young capacity. The results, despite blatant rigging and terrorization, as well as monopolizing the sources of funding, media and state power and resources, showed a fetus that had started moving and coming to life in the womb of this nation and in the heart of the region that had been swimming in oppression."

"What Happened To Me Was Not Only an Assassination of My Rights as a Human Being [and] Citizen, Nor an Assassination of My Political Party... It Was an Assassination of the Last Promising Civil Reformist Dream"

"Senator Obama: What happened to me was not only an assassination of my rights as a human being, citizen, nor just an assassination of my political party and its right to exist. It was an assassination of the last promising civil reformist dream, a confiscation of the right of my generation in this country and in the region to dream again of a peaceful, civil and reformist change in the shadow of the 'flying wolf's head'!!

"I admit that we have not felt alone due to the objection and condemnation on part of the parliaments of the free world, the European Parliament (which issued a strong decision in 2008) of what I was and continue to be subjected to. There was also reservations expressed by the U.S. Congress, Administration and President Bush in May 2007 in Prague and in May 2008 in Sharm al-Sheikh, as well as Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice on many of her visits to Cairo following our first - and last - meeting during her first visit which she had postponed more than once due to my first arrest.

"However, Egypt's regime has become accustomed to such pressures and has always proven its ability to ease them through an exchange of temporary regional roles and interests taking advantage of the seasonal nature of such pressures and its ability to maximize and play on U.S. and Western fears of the spread of fundamentalism in the region, particularly the Hamas model. The Egyptian regime also takes full advantage of the constant tension in the region and the tarnished image of democratic reform due to events in Iraq. Egypt's regime also bets on the weakening criticism against its violations during the U.S. election and administration change. Egypt's regime may take advantage of the time the new American administration may need to organize and fortify itself and hand down the country to the president's son while the world is busy with U.S. election and White House changes.

"I and My Generation of Reformists In Egypt, The Arab Region And The Middle East Do Not Only Share Your Feelings... We Also Share Many of Your Campaign Opinions"

"Senator Obama: Me and the generation I belong to - in Egypt and the Arab region - which views you as a gifted and inspiring model for the dream of freedom and change and look forward to hearing from you - today, tomorrow and in the future - what may renews our legitimate dreams of freedom, justice and peace and render hope and the values of freedom and progress victorious over the frustrations brought about by old oppressive regimes that have for long decades enjoyed the support of major states in a losing bid between interests and principles where the values of oppression won to the disadvantage of principles and interests alike.

"I and my generation of reformists in Egypt, the Arab region and the Middle East do not only share your feelings because you belong to this generation and have become a leading figure of it, we also share many of your campaign opinions, as, for example:

"1. Concerning the withdrawal from Iraq: We agree with you, despite the differing reasons, of the importance of a quick withdrawal from Iraq making sure not to leave any permanent bases that may give constant rise and justification to extremism and terrorism. We clearly say that the Iraq model has become a major obstacle in the face of Arab reformists as regimes have used it and simple citizens fear a reform dream that would lead to a nightmare similar to that of the Iraq scarecrow. It's as if it is the fate of reformists and people in the Arab world to pay the price twice, the first time due to the presence of oppressive regimes, such as the Saddam Hussein and other regimes, and the second time with the elimination of such regimes and their replacement with chaos and bloodshed that render oppression the only option.

"2. Concerning the Peace Process with the aim of establishing a Palestinian and an Israeli state: The declaration on 06/06/2008 considering Jerusalem an issue to be decided by negotiation between both parties renewed all of the region's peoples' hopes to reach a final, fail solution to this issue which has consumed the blood and capacities of the people and opened the door to fundamentalism, terrorism and oppression, each of which are justified as long as this issue remains unresolved.

"3. Dialogue with Iran and Syria: Recent history affirms this dialectic relation between the person sitting in the White House and the Iranian tendency. Your presence in the White House will end the Ahmadi Nijad phase. When Clinton was U.S. president, Iran elected the reformist Khatami, and when the White House methodology changed Ahmadi Nijad came to power. Your coming to power in the U.S. will be a good reason for the end of the Nijad era to be replaced by Larijani or another leader capable of changing the roles and natures of the phase. This will also definitely reflect on the general mood in Damascus and Lebanon.

"4. The priority of democratic reform in the region: We agree with the announcement you made on June 4^th criticizing the policy of depending on Middle East dictators. However, some people linked the Minnesota speech to pressure on oil states!! Now remains the issue of the priority of democratic reform in the region in general and the importance of providing a clear vision as the right means to helping this region out of its fall and saving it from the terrorism and fundamentalism generated by oppressive regimes that monopolized means to peaceful circulation of power and that lacked any of the good governance characteristics. We still await, during the coming stage of your campaign, a clearer position towards issues of reform and freedoms through the agenda to be expected from a law professional, a lecturer of constitutional law, an attorney who has contributed for over 11 years (1993 - 2004) to the field of human rights and the Democratic Party candidate who has always been concerned with such issues, whether in power or not."

"The Supporters of Reform And Freedom, Headed By Prisoners of Consciousness in Egypt, Syria, Palestine And Other Countries, Await Your Declared and Fixed Position Supporting... Their Hope in Change"

"Senator Obama: The supporters of reform and freedom, headed by prisoners of consciousness in Egypt, Syria, Palestine and other countries await your declared and fixed position supporting their rights to life and freedom and their hope in change. Prisoners of consciousness in oppressive countries are deprived of the simplest human rights and subjected to the worst forms of violation and physical and psychological pressures in the absence of the justice of litigation and natural law. The authorities now use the incidents that took place in Abu-Ghraib and other detention places located outside the United States as a justification to violate the rights of innocent callers for peaceful reform in their countries saying that America, the country of freedom, is committing the same acts!!

"Your Remark in the Minnesota June 4 Speech... May Not Agree With the Ambitions of Arab Liberals, Particularly in Egypt, Syria and Palestine"

"Senator Obama: Your remark in the Minnesota June 4^th speech on how serious it is to depend on and support dictatorships may be satisfactory but may not agree with the ambitions of Arab liberals, particularly in Egypt, Syria and Palestine where the disaster is harder. I only point out to parliament figures behind bars and paying a high price for their positions. They are threatened with murder through illness and pressures. I will not speak of my condition. I mean other figures for example in Syria, such as the Damascus Declaration group which includes former parliamentarians and liberals, such as liberal lawyer Anwar al-Binni and others. I also mention Palestinian parliament member Marwan al-Barghouty who is detained in Israel. The real hope lies in a strong alternative to Abbas capable of bringing balance in the light of the popularity enjoyed by Hamas.

"As for Egypt, in addition to my situation, which I will not further detail, there are detainees in accordance with the Emergency Law from Al-Ghad party as a result of the April 6^th strike and incidents, others from the Kefaya movement, Al-Karam party and Al-Amal (Labor) party, all of which are prohibited by law!! There are also Islamist and Muslim Brotherhood detainees and those referred to military trial. More important and in addition victims of oppression in Egypt, are the sources of such oppression, which in my estimate are:

"1. Article 76 of the Constitution, amended in 2005 and 2007 to eliminate any real competition to the president and the heir. The conditions are restrictive to the point of tailoring the position to the president and his son.

"2. Article 77, amended in 1980 to extend the president's term to become unlimited

"3. Constitutional amendment introduced in 2007 eliminating judicial supervision of elections. This results in further organized rigging of any parliament, local and presidential elections.

"4. Violating the principle and independence of litigation and public prosecution

"5. The regime monopolizes all media and means of real influence

"6. The state controls the establishing of political parties and interferes with their work, as well as robbing them (as was the case with Al-Ghad party)

"7. The continued enforcement of the Emergency Law for 27 years and applying it to political parties (as was the case with Al-Ghad party) and using it to prevent gatherings, demonstrations, expression, etc., particularly during the peaceful strike organized on April 6^th.

"8. Using the directed judicial rulings, infiltrated judiciary and the government-controlled parliament to commit all forms of rights violations that allow those in power to monopolize power and terrorize opposition and reformists under a false cover of legitimacy.

"9. Confusing the state with the ruling party and ensuring that other parties remain weak. Exerting strong pressures on civil society institutions with the aim of controlling them or economically and legally restricting them.

"10. Promoting aggressive sentiments against all calls for reform under the pretext that they are pushed by foreign hands and echoing foreign agendas in surprising double standards as the regime seeks foreign support and cooperation while internally inciting aggressive sentiments against the West and accusing those who seek to communicate with it concerning political reform in particular of being its agents!!"

"We Await Much From You as a Democratic Candidate and President Expected to Lead the Whole World Towards a Real and Fair Change"

"Senator Obama: We await much from you as a Democratic candidate and president expected to lead the whole world towards a real and fair change. Your generation and all the powers of reform, democrats and liberals in Egypt and the Arab world hope that January 20^thbecomes a day of freedom and democracy, not only in the United States of America but in the whole world primarily by rectifying the wrongs caused by long years of supporting dictators under the pretext of protecting interests at the account of principles.

"Please accept my sincere wishes for your success.

"Yours sincerely, Dr. Ayman Nour, Tura Mazraa Prison, 15 June 2008"

Egyptian election a high-risk undertaking

Jackson Diehl
The Windsor Star

Ayman Nour, the liberal Egyptian opposition politician whose jailing early this year has made him the leading challenger to President Hosni Mubarak, recently tried to launch his campaign for September's presidential election by knocking on doors. Police stopped him, telling him he didn't have permission.

He tried to stage a conference for 1,500 of his supporters. A fire set by pro-government thugs forced the temporary clearing of the hall. When that failed to stop the meeting, the electricity was cut off.

It gets worse. Nour says he has been served with a court order mandating demolition of a community centre he has maintained in the Cairo neighbourhood of Bab al Shariya, his political base. Pro-government newspapers have reported that his penthouse apartment also will be demolished. One weekly paper that recently began appearing alongside Nour's party organ at newsstands published an article detailing how the 40-year-old parliamentarian might be assassinated: A sniper, it predicted, would open fire on his car.

Then there is the continuing criminal case, which almost everyone outside Mubarak's government, and some inside it, regards as blatantly political. A trial date has been set for June 28, and Nour says the case has been assigned to a notorious Egyptian security court judge. That judge is known for his closeness to Mubarak and for the seven-year sentence he imposed four years ago on another liberal dissident, Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

"I lie in bed at night thinking that either I'm going to end up in jail or I'm going to be killed," a visibly anxious Nour told me last week. "To say the least, this campaign has gotten off to a very bad start."

If so, the prospect is bad not just for Nour but for Mubarak, who effectively has staked his legacy and the future of the regime he leads on his promise to replace the rigged referendum that has previously extended his rule with a multi-candidate democratic election. There's little doubt the 76-year-old Mubarak will win the election, in part because it will exclude unsanctioned political parties --including the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's powerful Islamic movement. But a free and fair election within those limits -- with access to the media and full freedom to campaign for Nour and the two or three other candidates who might challenge Mubarak -- would be seen by most Egyptians and many outsiders, including the Bush administration, as a political breakthrough.

On the other hand, an electoral farce featuring the persecution or jailing of Nour and the ballot-box stuffing widely reported in previous Egyptian elections would eliminate the possibility that Egypt, like Mexico or South Korea, will be led to democracy by its ruling party.

AGGRESSIVE EFFORT

It could also scatter the group of young technocrats who, under Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, have embarked on an aggressive effort to liberalize the economy and modernize the regime. The prosecution of Nour, one told me, is intended "to stop the reforms."

Nazif, whose tax and tariff cutting and privatization of state companies have prompted a 130-per-cent gain in the Cairo stock market since last summer, insists the government is committed to real change. "We led peace. We can lead political reform," he said, echoing the phrase President Bush has used for Egypt. He added: "We don't have any differences" with Washington "on where we want to be. We might have some differences on the tactics and the pace." A senior Egyptian security official I spoke to was more circumspect, but also adamant. "This won't be the Tunisian model," he said, referring to the farcical multi-candidate election staged by strongman Zine Abidine Ben Ali last year. "It will be fair, it will be open and it will be under the eyes of everyone in our society."

The real meaning of these pledges is now being hammered out in official committees that are drafting the constitutional amendment providing for presidential elections, the law that will govern this year's campaign and the ruling party's platform.

Regime liberals are pressing for a month-long window in which opposition candidates will each get two hours a week on state television; a suspension of emergency regulations that now bar them from holding public rallies and demonstrations; public financing for their campaigns; a nonpartisan authority to manage the election and, crucially, international observers to guarantee that the balloting will be fair and the count honest. Intriguingly, the national judges' union recently declared that its members will not supervise polling places, as had been expected, unless Mubarak accepts reform legislation making the judiciary more independent.

Yet the liberals concede that even if they win all their battles, they have no control over the prosecution of Nour, which is in the hands of Mubarak and his security apparatus. Nazif said the case could be wrapped up in June, allowing Nour to campaign freely if he is acquitted. But the security official I spoke to said the case would be extended, after a preliminary session, until October -- meaning that Nour will run with the prospect of being sentenced to a prison term after Mubarak is safely re-elected.

"This is a battle about the future," Nour said. "They want to convict me, even if only for a day, so that I can't run for president or parliament again." That would help clear the path for Mubarak's son Gamal, who, like Nour, is in his 40s. It would also propel Egypt toward the very political turmoil and international isolation that Mubarak seeks to avoid.

Jackson Diehl is deputy editorial page editor of the Washington Post. He filed this column from Cairo

"TOMORROW" IN LIMBO

Al-Ahram Weekly

The future looks far less certain for Al-Ghad Party in light of its leader Ayman Nour's continuing detention, reports Mona El-Nahhas

"Don't allow them to destroy our dream," jailed Al-Ghad (Tomorrow) Party Chairman Ayman Nour wrote his colleagues from his Tora prison cell. "Keep on the lookout for any attempts to split the party. Stand as one, because the situation is very critical."

Nour, a prominent opposition member of parliament, was arrested on 29 January on charges of forging 1433 of his party's membership applications, which were used during the official registering of the party last October.

Al-Ghad leaders, shocked by the sudden turn of events, said the case was politically motivated. "They imprisoned him as an example of [what could happen] to any other opposing voice that dares to call for reform," said Wael Nawara, the party chairman's assistant. "The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) does not allow any other party to threaten it." Nawara said the NDP -- worried about Al-Ghad's potential to be a serious rival -- "started to fabricate a case to get rid of the party".

In an interview at Nour's Zamalek residence, the party chairman's wife, TV broadcaster Gamila Ismail, who also serves as Al-Ghad's assistant secretary-general, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Nour's case was "politically motivated", and that Nour himself was "afraid he would remain in detention until parliamentary elections take place".

Ismail said she was also worried about plans aimed at weakening and splitting the party. She said "security bodies" had made "contact with leading founders [to] convince them to run in elections for Nour's post. They also planted seeds of strife, by infiltrating the party ranks."
Party members have indeed begun to criticise the way the party's elections were staged.

"Leading posts were seized by businessmen and family acquaintances," said a party member who spoke on condition of anonymity. "People with extensive political experience were excluded."

The US's reaction to Nour's arrest has also rankled the party. The US State Department issued a statement "deploring [Nour's] arrest and calling on the government to re-examine the issue". A Washington Post editorial described him as being "the sort of future leader capable of winning broad support". According to the newspaper, it was "that, and not forgery, [which] landed him in jail".

Several leading party members reacted to the US stance by publicly voicing their rejection of any external interference in Nour's case. Forty party members from Al-Qalyubiya were provoked into submitting their resignations last Thursday. In a statement bearing their signatures, they criticised "Nour's dealings with the US at a time when he [himself] harshly criticised anyone who deals with the US".

One of the party's senior founders, Sherif Esmat Abdel-Meguid, son of the former Arab League secretary-general, also submitted his resignation.

The party's connection to the US became a hot topic of debate last December, when US ambassador to Cairo David Welch visited Nour at his residence. "As a liberal party, calling for an open relationship with the West and the US," Ismail said, "it was very natural to meet the US ambassador." She said it was Welch who asked to meet Nour to congratulate him on the formation of the party and find out more about its programme. "As a precautionary measure, Nour decided to notify Shura Council speaker Safwat El- Sherif about the Welch meeting in accordance with the political parties law," Ismail said.

Two days before his arrest, Nour met former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright. The meeting took place "at a reception to which we were invited along with several top state officials including presidential political adviser Osama El- Baz and senior NDP members. Nour talked with Albright for less than two minutes. They just shook hands," Ismail said. She said her husband's patriotism was above suspicion.

Meanwhile, the case against Nour does not look to have much legal ground on which to stand, according to Sameh Ashour, a member of Al-Ghad Party leader's defence team. "Nour does not have any legal responsibility for checking membership applications. It's not his business." The political parties law stipulates that party founders submit at least 50 membership applications to be eligible for a licence. "Why would Nour go to the trouble of forging such a huge number of applications?" Ashour asked. He said the names of the party's 2005 founders were published via paid advertising in newspapers.

Nour's arrest took place just a few hours after the People's Assembly stripped his parliamentary immunity. He was ordered on 31 January to be remanded in custody for 45 days pending investigations.

Nour sent parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour a letter from his Tora prison cell last week complaining of having been subjected to inhumane treatment, and urging Sorour to take action. On Sunday the People's Assembly dispatched a delegation from its Human Rights Committee, headed by Mansour Amer, to examine Nour's complaint.

Following the visit, the committee recommended that Nour -- a diabetic with heart problems -- be hospitalised to get the medical care he needs. The committee's report will be submitted to the interior minister and the prosecutor-general.

The party's secretary general, Mona Makram Ebeid, is in charge until Nour's release. Ebeid attended the first session of the national dialogue with the NDP that took place two days after Nour's arrest, presenting the gathering with the party's reform plan.

Nearly three weeks before his arrest, Nour submitted a draft constitution to the People's Assembly, calling it Al-Ghad's alternative to the constitution currently in use, and simultaneously staging a campaign to get one million signatures in support of it. The draft calls for fully democratic presidential elections within a parliamentary republic, thereby curtailing the president's powers.

Although his parliamentary immunity has been revoked, Nour is still an MP. When the investigations are over, his MP status will be re- examined. Legal experts said that if he were found guilty, his membership would also be revoked upon the approval of two thirds of MPs. If he is found innocent, his immunity will be restored, and he will have the right to run in the coming parliamentary elections.

In another blow to the new party, the Shura Council-affiliated Supreme Press Council banned the party's weekly mouthpiece Al-Ghad on Tuesday just one day before it was set to appear on the newsstand.

The council's decision was based on a letter submitted by the party's Deputy Chairman Ragab Hemeida, in which he claimed that the party does not approve of Ibrahim Eissa being the mouthpiece's chief-editor.

During the party's first congress last November, Eissa was chosen as Al-Ghad 's chief-editor. Eissa was the chief- editor of Al-Destour newspaper, banned in 1998 after it published a dubious statement containing threats against three Coptic businessmen. The publication was accused of sensationalism.

High-ranking party members said that Hemeida acted against Eissa in an attempt to bolster Nour's case. These same members met on Tuesday to declare their opposition to Hemeida's stance. "We are not going to get rid of our people, even if it is in exchange for Nour's release," Ismail said. Although Hemeida was forced to withdraw his letter to the council, it remains unclear when the paper will actually appear.