Ahmed Amar comment on BikyaMasr

Was a free man touring and flying in the sky, maneuvering and engage in dialogue, invalidate his intelligence on the spectrum of prey for upholding the right to
Sky country, which Amtlait corruption until he received a dream day and has the right to dream the dream,

it belongs to Falcon troublemaker contested space and the eagle in his kingdom, which occupied Bjbroch and power and tried to defend the site you Vdhaih solvency Eagle corruption and the assassination of the dreams of the rest of the birds and the determination to fight the battle

Falcon-style space-Sharif and offset Eagle all methods of deception and deceit and even highlighted by owls and crows to Inhishoa in his and did not leave a door in the deception, but it has been opened, and because a single Vhzmh Hawk Eagle of corruption and vote rigging toward economic because they do not powerless Falcon did not escape the eagle ..

commanded him to be incarcerated and isolated from the flight and the opinion of Falcon all forms of humiliation in his prison after he was a free man in outer space and prejudice against himself for a principle and the issue of Vdhaih site you want to purging of raptors Alnahph for the rights of other vulnerable birds until he came out he was sick of Aigoi the birds and because the eagle security Pferman himself and his decision to prevent Falcon Mnatahth rule space,

and the Falcon was trying to pick up desperate measures to continue flying and resisted the disease, and try again after another until recovery and when he tries to fly to the stage behind him and sends owls and crows to check on how it is measured in order to prepare him if completed healing time for elections,

the king of space every day Ivdad Falcon Guo and Ivdad number of crows that try to be thwarted by his determination and less even recovered from his illness and flew and flew and landed to the city he loves and is loved birds because he knows she loves him and interact with the birds in friendly love and discuss with them and teach them the realities of things and saw the truth of the meanings of words and committing themselves to support him as they were by his side at first and he left Falcon to return to his residence,

a joy is happy because he is supported in part by the Muslim Brotherhood ahead, if it is allowed to log on again and breathed a sigh of relief because he understood how much he is loved by birds, which supported the weak and will support him every step of the will to fly to fight Eagle hawk that Egyptian policy, Dr. Ayman Nour .. every year is a good people of Alexandria congratulates him happy birthday .. Ahmed Ammar, head of the labor movement democracy

EGYPT: Activist Ayman Nour blasts authorities for travel ban

November 5, 2009 | 6:45 am

Opposition leader Ayman Nour has attacked the ruling regime after he was barred from traveling to the United States, where he was invited to speak about Egypt's political climate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

Nour and a number of Egyptian politicians, including Gamal Mubarak -- a top official in the ruling National Democratic Party and the son of President Hosni Mubarak -- were invited to the Carnegie event. Nour said he is convinced that his travel ban was intended to prevent anti-government figures from spoiling Gamal Mubarak's trip.

"Mubarak's son wants the lion's share of the Egyptian political sphere, whether that is inside or outside the country," Nour said. "But I will not give him such pleasure, and I will take part in the Carnegie seminar through video conferences."

The founder and former head of El Ghad opposition party, who was also planning to take part in a number of conferences organized by the Egyptian community in the U.S., previously said that the Egyptian public prosecutor had issued an administrative decision preventing him from going to the U.S. and other nations in the Middle East and Europe.

Gamal Mubarak is being groomed to succeed his father, a scenario resented by many Egyptians who have suffered under the government's economic programs and repressive human-rights policies and don’t want a Mubarak dynasty. Nour and fellow opposition activists and parties recently formed a coalition under the slogan Mayehkomsh ("You don't have the right to rule"), rejecting any succession plan.

After losing to Hosni Mubarak in Egypt's first contested elections in 2005, Nour was sentenced to five years in prison on what are widely regarded as trumped-up charges of forging signatures in order to establish El Ghad party. He was released on health grounds in February and since then has only been allowed to leave the country to receive healthcare abroad.

Nour, who has been touring Egyptian cities to interact with citizens and demonstrate his political vision over the last few months, can't run in the 2011 presidential elections because of his earlier conviction.

-- Amro Hassan in Cairo

dissident Ayman Nour is pessimistic on eve of Obama visit

In Egypt, dissident Ayman Nour is pessimistic on eve of Obama visit

Ayman Nour was freed from prison early this year in a gesture to the U.S., but he fears that Washington, which needs Egypt's help in the region, won't push for democratic reforms.

May 31, 2009|Jeffrey Fleishman and Noha El-Hennawy

CAIRO — Egypt's leading dissident, his forehead singed from a recent attack, sits near a window in an armchair, depressed and wondering whether he was better off behind bars.

"I want to go back to jail," says Ayman Nour, whom the government released in February as an apparent goodwill gesture to the Obama administration. "The government insists on getting the maximum benefit out of my liberation, but they are causing me the maximum harm.

"I am denied all rights. My party cannot return to the political scene. I am stalked by the police. They are even messing with my personal life. There is no ceiling to the injustice and the revenge of this regime."

When President Obama steps to the podium Thursday in Cairo, in what is expected to be a major address to the Muslim world, many will be listening for an initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. But others, like Nour and Egyptian activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim, will be looking for an aggressive approach to advance human rights.

Nour, who was imprisoned after the 2005 election in which he ran against President Hosni Mubarak, is the country's most prominent opposition figure. But Mubarak's 27-year rule has seen thousands of other activists, bloggers and members of the radical Muslim Brotherhood locked up on what human rights groups say are scurrilous charges to prevent any challenge to the ruling National Democratic Party.

The question now is: How will Obama, whose charisma and speeches have entranced the Arab world, balance the United States' national interests with its calls for increased democracy in the Middle East? For decades, those matters have been at cross purposes, especially in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, two strategic U.S. allies whose regimes have stifled democratic ideals.

In Egypt, activists say the $1.2 billion in annual U.S. aid, most of it military, should be contingent on the Mubarak government granting wider political freedoms. Ibrahim, who has been in self-exile in the United States, had argued this point and was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of damaging Egypt's reputation -- a verdict that was overturned Monday in what is seen as another offering to Washington.

"Obama is the most respected American president outside the U.S. in almost a century," Nour says. "He is different. He has a different skin and comes from a different culture. The Arab person finds him an inspiring model and hopes someone like him can reach power here the same way Obama did. . . . But so far, we can say that Obama has a confusing agenda as far as democracy in this region is concerned. If he gives up democratization, his work will be meaningless."

"I Won't Wait for the Regime to Give Me Its Blessings!"

Interview with Ayman Nour : "I Won't Wait for the Regime to Give Me Its Blessings!"


Ayman Nour, the chairman of Egypt's liberal El-Ghad party, talked to Arian Fariborz and Mahmoud Tawfik about his party's perspectives for the future and his plan to run for office again in the next presidential elections

Ayman Nour was released from prison in February 2009 after three years – for health reasons, was the official explanation on the part of the judiciary

Ayman Nour is one of the most prominent politicians in Egypt's liberal opposition. Many in the Arab world and the West see Nour, 44, as a liberal standard-bearer and a democratic alternative to Mubarak's authoritarian National Democratic Party and the Islamist opposition in the form of the Muslim Brotherhood.

2005 saw his arrest in the wake of the presidential election, on the pretext of electoral manipulation after his liberal El-Ghad party had gained 13 percent of votes.

According to political observers, Nour's sudden release last February was largely down to pressure from the Obama administration. Washington had categorised his arrest as an abuse of justice.

Although the state excluded Ayman Nour from political activities for five years after his release, he had announced he would be standing again in the next presidential elections in 2011.

* * *

According to many journalists and political observers, your release was a consequence of US pressure on the Egyptian government. Do you share this view?

Ayman Nour: The American pressure was certainly a factor, but I simply don't know enough details to either confirm or reject that interpretation. But I'm sure, of course, that many countries appealed on my behalf.

I'm particularly pleased on this point that the German parliament was one of the first to intercede on my behalf, by protesting against my arrest with a declaration to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

So how do you explain your release at this particular time?

Nour: That's just what I'm wondering! To be quite honest I don't even know myself why I was released from prison now of all times. I can only assume that the regime may have been trying to polish up its image – albeit rather late, as I only had four months left to serve of my regular prison sentence...

A phoenix rising from the ashes? Ayman Nour viewing the burnt-out El-Ghad party headquarters in Cairo after his release

What is the situation for Egypt's liberal opposition at the moment? Particularly after its defeat in the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2005 and the decline of the extra-parliamentary opposition?

Nour: The first thing you have to realise is that the liberal opposition wasn't suppressed simply because it was liberal, but to prevent it from offering a "third way" in Egypt – as an alternative to the choice between the authoritarian regime and the Muslim Brotherhood.

I believe we can pick up this idea again now that I've been released. But to do so, we have to be prepared to enter into a hard and long battle.

What alternatives do you want to offer the Egyptians as a "third way"?

Nour: Our main goal is a constitutional state. We want to offer simple, clear and pragmatic solutions and we are prepared to put these into practice immediately – if we get the chance. If the current regime were ready to give up its power at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, we'd be capable of filling the vacuum by five past eight at the latest, and taking over the business of the state in an orderly way.

We have a very clear, detailed political agenda – the longest manifesto an Egyptian party has ever had at over 1200 pages, with solutions suitable for everyday practice that don't scare people off. One thing you have to know is that the Egyptians tend to be rather suspicious of change.

Nour had announced from his prison cell that he would run for office in the next presidential election. His wife and fellow political activist Gamila Ismail passed on his statements beyond the prison walls

Apart from that, we have a public profile as a "young people's party" for 20 to 30-year-olds. I myself may be 44, much older than that, but that still makes me only half the age of the old guard of over-80-year-olds.

Egyptian opposition parties – and the Muslim Brotherhood is no exception here – are often accused of restricting their demands to political reforms, whereas they have no clear ideas on the economy. Does the same apply to the El-Ghad party?

Nour: We have our very own ideas of a "third way" as Gerhard Schröder, Tony Blair and many others took with their social liberal reform agenda. But that mustn't keep us from our most important objective. Above all we want to fight corruption – and that can't be done via economic approaches, but only by means of political reforms, through checks and balances and by strengthening the judiciary.

What political role can you take on at all for your party in the coming years? After all, you are subject to certain state conditions that make it impossible to exercise political office freely, particularly forbidding you from running for the coming presidential elections.

Nour: Never mind the conditions – we have means of getting around them. And I'd like to say very clearly to all those who interceded for my release: what you should do now is intercede to defend my rights! My arrest was not about me personally, after all, but about curtailing my rights.

Solidarity with Ayman Nour: hundreds of supporters demonstrated for the 44-year-old politician's release at the start of the court case against him

I am free again now as an individual but at the same time I can't exercise my rights freely, and the impression is that the state is still following a repressive logic by politically immobilising certain individuals – a negative picture that does huge damage to Egypt's image. I for one do not allow myself to be swayed by the feeling that I'm banned from doing anything, and I will run for office in the coming presidential election. I will simply ignore this type of conditions, as I don't source my legitimacy from the state anyway. I won't wait for the regime to give me its blessings!

How does the future look for your party? There was allegedly a split after your arrest, meaning El-Ghad almost disappeared into obscurity after having been one of the most important parties of the new opposition.

Nour: The party did not split in the actual sense. What happened was that a number of members were expelled for giving in to pressure to support Mubarak in the presidential elections.

The state had tried to use them as a Trojan horse to undermine El-Ghad from within. Two weeks before my release, a judgement was passed in our favour, ruling that the party is allowed to reconstitute itself. It's true that the party almost collapsed during my time in prison, but the reason wasn't a genuine division but this state intervention.

There are some critics, however, who say the El-Ghad party revolves solely around yourself…

Nour: That's not the case at all. I am an important part of the party, that's true, as parties in Egypt are essentially not strong as quasi "impersonal organisations". One of the great faults in Egypt's party politics is just that, that the focus on certain individuals plays such an important role here.

But perhaps that's neither unusual nor a bad thing – there's plenty of evidence that that's the case in many countries all around the globe. The best counter-evidence in any case is the fact that I was in prison for four years but the party still exists and has even renewed itself. There are many new young people in the party leadership now.

But as the party's founder I naturally play a role, as it was me who put the manifesto together, provided ideas and gave them a political form. But that's the way it is in Egypt – people can identify more with individuals than with posters and pamphlets.

Interview: Arian Fariborz and Mahmoud Tawfik

© Qantara.de 2009

BBC News - Profile: Ayman Nour

Profile: Ayman Nour

Before his imprisonment, Ayman Nour was a relative newcomer to Egypt's stagnant political scene.

Ayman Nour's Ghad party was founded in October 2004

Mr Nour, a softly-spoken, eloquent former lawyer, formed his political party in October 2004 with a view to contesting presidential elections the following year.

Three months later, prosecutors in Cairo charged him with forging signatures to register Ghad, the party whose name means "tomorrow" in Arabic.

He developed a vocal band of supporters at home and a profile abroad.

And his liberal credentials brought him into direct competition with the youthful wing of the governing party, headed by President Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal.

They also brought him to the attention of the US, Egypt's biggest ally in the West, which has urged Cairo to reform the political system that has kept President Mubarak in power for more than two decades.

Analysts said the speed with which Mr Nour was stripped of parliamentary immunity and brought to trial suggested the government did not want to under-estimate the political threat he posed.

The government rejected all allegations that the trial was politically motivated.

Jail term

Washington voiced disquiet at Mr Nour's treatment and Cairo delayed his trial, enabling him to take part in the 2005 elections.

The presidential poll saw Mr Nour come a distant second to the incumbent, polling 8% of the vote to Mr Mubarak's 89% - a result Nour alleged was rigged.

In November 2005, Mr Nour also lost his parliamentary seat to a ruling party candidate - another result that he claimed was rigged.

His trial went ahead a month later, delivering a guilty verdict and handing him a five-year jail term.

A co-defendant at the trial complained he had been forced to make a false confession.

Political family

Mr Nour, a diabetic dependent on insulin, spent the week before the verdict in hospital as a result of a hunger strike he had started in protest at his detention.

Ayman Nour's wife has campaigned for his release

During an earlier spell in prison, he wrote to US magazine Newsweek, saying the government was suspicious of his reformist inclinations and wanted to discredit him by labelling him as an agent of the US.

"The solidarity shown to me by my supporters, together with sympathy from the international community, have triggered in [the] authorities a strange stubbornness," he wrote.

The 44-year-old comes from a family with a long history of involvement in public life.

Throughout his trial, his wife, Gameela Ismail, led daily protests against the Mubarak administration.

While in prison last year, he is known to have written to Barack Obama as he campaigned for the US presidency. It is understood he urged Mr Obama to help Arab reformers push for democracy in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, during a speech in Egypt in May 2008, President George W Bush pointedly remarked that "too often in the Middle East, politics consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail".

Mr Nour's release was unexpected but comes at a time of expectation that the Obama administration could bring a change in diplomatic relations in the region.

FP - Ayman Nour's release - symbol and substance

Ayman Nour's release - symbol and substance

Foreign Policy Marc Lynch
Thu, 02/19/2009 - 3:28am

Ayman Nour, leader of Egypt's al-Ghad Party, has finally been released from prison after being arrested on what most people consider trumped-up charges following his challenge to Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential election. (Egypt's al-Masry al-Youm has extensive coverage in Arabic here.) Nour's imprisonment was always outrageous. The Washington Post editorial page and many democracy activists framed his detention as the single most potent symbol of Mubarak's refusal of American pressures on democracy issues. As with the persecution of the civil society activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the imprisonment of Nour sent a powerful message to Americans and to Egyptians alike: the U.S. would not seriously press democratic reform issues and could not even protect its friends.

Why now? Most Egyptian coverage ties it directly to Mubarak's desire to improve relations with Washington by removing an ongoing irritant and offering a fresh start with the Obama administration. Comments a savvy Cairo-based friend:

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....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.... 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.

I fear that he's right about the politics of this. Nour's imprisonment was an important symbolic issue in the U.S.-Egyptian relationship. But his detention was never the only or even the most significant aspect of the regime's crackdown on political opposition, which included the arrest of thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members, heavy pressures on the press and the judiciary, and much more. His release responds to the symbolic issue, but not to the substantive issue. I'm very happy for Nour and his family, and for the end of the farcical case against him. His release does not come close to reversing the authoritarian trends in Egypt I hope that this does not become an excuse to begin ignoring democratic reform, human rights and public freedoms issues in Egypt and the rest of the Arab world.

Freed Egyptian dissident surprised but unrepentant

Egypt releases opposition leader Ayman Nour - 19 Feb 09

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.

"Ayman Nour's release is fantastic", says LI President

"Ayman Nour's release is fantastic", says LI President

Liberal International (LI) President John Lord Alderdice warmly welcomed the release of Ayman Nour of the Egyptian liberal party El Ghad after more than three years of imprisonment, and announced that the next LI Congress will take place in Cairo, Egypt.

Speaking from Kampala, Uganda, where he is currently representing the Liberal International at a meeting of ALDEPAC, the group of liberal and democratic parliamentarians from the European Union, the Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean, Lord Alderdice commented: 'The release of Ayman Nour is fantastic news. First and foremost for his own freedom and well-being, but also as an inspiration for liberal and democratic forces in Egypt. Mr. Nour's courage and determination in speaking out for the freedom of speech, democracy and political freedoms in Egypt, even at the sacrifice of his own personal freedom, have been an inspiration to many. His intended return in politics is a particularly encouraging sign for liberals in the Middle East, who have so successfully established the Network of Arab Liberals (NAL) over the last few years in which Mr. Nour's party is an active member. As members of the Liberal International across the world, we will continue to actively support Mr. Nour and other liberals in the region. It therefore gives me much pleasure to publicly announce that the 56th Liberal International Congress will take place in Cairo, Egypt, from the 29th of October until the 1st of November 2009. “

The Egyptian liberal party the Democratic Front Party (DFP) has been a member party of LI since the 2007 Belfast Congress, while Mr. Nour's El Ghad party is LI's partner that has initiated the process of formal affiliation with Liberal International.

Egypt News : Egypt court keeps jailed Nur cut off from outside contacts

Wednesday, 21 May 2008

An Egyptian judicial source reported Tuesday that Egyptian opposition figure Ayman Nur who has been in jail for the past two years will no longer be entitled to publish articles in the press

The ruling was issued in Egypt's higher administrative court, rejecting an appeal from Nur against a ruling handed down in January that also bans him from receiving or sending letters, said Egypt’s source.
"This decision shows a determination to deny him every right as a prisoner," said Nur's wife, Gamila Ismail.
Nur, who came a distant second to Hosni Mubarak in presidential polls in September 2005, was later the same year sentenced to five years behind bars on charges of forging official documents to set up a political party.
His family and human rights groups say Nur's health has sharply deteriorated in prison, but an appeal for his early release on health grounds was turned down in March.
Egypt has rejected as interference US-led criticism of its human rights record and treatment of Nur.
US President George W. Bush wound up a Middle East tour in Egypt on Sunday urging friends and foes in the Middle East, where few leaders are elected, to stop repressing their peoples.
"Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail," he said.

EGYPT NEWS

Except Ayman Nour

Cairo, April 26, 2008

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information stated today that all prisoners of opinion are detained in Burg Al Arab prison except Dr. Ayman Nour who is detained in Mazra'at Tura prison. Three of the opinion prisoners out of five are arrested according to the emergency law. The three are Ali Abdul Fattah, director of the Egyptian media center, Mos'ad Abu Fagr, a novelist and a blogger and an activist in "wedna na'ish" (we wanna live) movement and Karim Al Behairy, a labor historian and blogger who was recently detained due to the strike called for by internet activists and democratic movements. The three prisoners are detained in Burg Al Arab detention camp located in Alexandria desert.

The remaining two prisoners are the secular blogger Karim Amir, sentenced to four years in prison, and detained in Burg Al Arab, and Dr. Ayman Nour, sentenced to five years in prison, and detained in Mazra'at Tura prison south Cairo.

Is it a coincidence that all opinion prisoners are detained in Burg Al Arab prison? This prison is in a remote area, Alexandria desert, while the detainees are from different places according to their accommodations. This makes us say that detaining opinion prisoners in such a remote prison away from the detainees' accommodation areas is a sign that the interior ministry is cracking down against opinion prisoners in Egypt.

Next May will witness three important events; the world day for press freedom on May 3, a strike called for by internet activists and democratic movements on May 4 the president birthday date, and the termination of emergency law activation period on May 27.

Mr. Gamal Eid, the executive director of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said, "We hope that the Egyptian government will not extend the emergency law activation period next May". "To terminate the emergency law activation period means that the opinion prisoners will be released, and also means that the president will issue a decree to release both Ayman Nour and Karim Amir. After 27 years, Egypt is to be without emergency law and without opinion prisoners", added Gamal Eid.

Free Ayman Nour

EGYPT/BONINO: NO OPENINGS. DISSIDENTS STILL IN PRISON

"In Egypt a relevant economic liberalisation is not accompanied by an opening from a political point of view".

Minister Emma Bonino, who has lived in Cairo for a long time, said this to Radio Radicale the night before Romano Prodi's visit to Egypt. "I haven't spoken with Prodi about Egypt in particular" Bonino said "in that country there is a economic liberalisation in progress with a relevant growth while there are no openings from a political point of view.

I have no information about openings that are relevant or consistent. Ayman Nour (dissident Egyptian intellectual, ed.) is still in prison".

Watson calls on Egypt to release Ayman Nour

11.21.14am GMT Tue 1st Feb 2005

On hearing of the arrest yesterday of Ayman Nour, member of the Egyptian parliament and leader of the liberal opposition party al-Ghad ("Tomorrow"), Graham Watson, leader of the European Liberal Democrat Group in the European Parliament called upon President Mubarak and the Egyptian authorities to respect both the letter and the spirit of the EU-Mediterranean Agreement.

"2005 marks the 10th anniversary of the Barcelona process and represents an opportunity for a new stimulus to EU-Mediterranean relations. This kind of politically-motivated arrest of the leader of the only real opposition movement in a country dominated by a single ruling party sends all the wrong signals - that Egypt still has far to go on the road to democracy," he said.

"Political legitimacy derives precisely from a free choice of the electorate from a range of political viewpoints and not from imposing one view on everyone. Approaching the end of his fourth term of office, Mubarak should seize the opportunity of going down in history for supporting constitutional reform and a multi-party democracy. The EU should not stand idly by in the face of blatant disregard for the rule of law in its relations with privileged partner states. If Ayman Nour is not released promptly, collective EU action should be considered. Parliament should address this matter in its next 'urgency debate' on Human Rights on the 24th February if the matter has not been resolved, " Mr. Watson added.