An Egyptian opposition leader and presidential hopeful whose imprisonment angered Washington and called into question Egypt's pledges of democratic reform led a parade Saturday through downtown Cairo, trailed by thousands after being freed on bail.
Ayman Nour -- still in his white prison jump suit and looking frail -- stepped out of Cairo's central security headquarters and was whisked to the shoulders of his supporters, blowing kisses over their heads. The 40-year-old lawmaker flashed a V-for-victory sign to the crowd of orange-shirted supporters awaiting his release. Orange is the color used by his "Tomorrow" political party.
Word spread fast of his release on 10,000 Egyptian pounds (US$1,725) bail, and within 15 minutes, a crowd of 400 supporters had swelled to a few thousand Cairenes. Firecrackers popped on the streets and supporters threw candy in the air and trilled with joy.
PHOTO: AP
Speaking to his supporters later, Nour reiterated his innocence -- and his jailhouse announcement that he would run for president this year against 24-year incumbent Hosni Mubarak.
"I announce that I will run in the presidential elections for you," Nour said, standing on a podium in a charitable organization he'd founded down the street from where he was freed.
"We are paying the price of our search for freedom," he said to cheers. "They tried for days to destroy a national project, the Tomorrow Party. But they failed."
Legally, Nour, who hasn't yet been charged with any crime, could stay active in politics beyond any conviction until all appeals are exhausted.
The release came only a few days before his 45-day detention order was due for renewal.
Nour is accused of presenting fraudulent signatures to a government committee to get a license for his party. He and his party denied the accusations, maintaining the charges were political, aiming to eliminate him as a rival to the ruling party.
Nour announced last week he would run for president, shortly after Mubarak gave the surprise order that the constitution be amended to permit multi-candidate elections later this year.
Nour's party was approved late last year, only the third to be legalized in the past 25 years.
It has only seven legislators in Egypt's 454-seat parliament, but the detention of the populist politician has drawn wide attention, partly because Nour had championed the call for multi-candidate presidential elections.
Nour's detention had caused diplomatic tension with Washington, which had also called for his release.
However, Nour distanced himself from the US efforts: "We are not America's men, and we are not anybody else's men. We are the men of Egypt only," he said to claps and whistles from the crowd.
International human rights groups also had called on Egypt to release Nour, saying his detention is politically motivated.
The ailing Nour was carried to a pickup truck on the main street in front of the central security headquarters. People trailed the pickup on foot down the road to the Nour Institute, which he started in 1995 to provide social services to the poor and which has provided him with a popular political base. Outside the organization, traffic came to a standstill.
The crowd, carrying orange flags, shouted: "This is Ayman Nour!" and, playing off his last name, which means "light" in Arabic: "Nour came out to the light."
Prosecutor-general Maher Abdel Wahed ordered Nour's release on bail, saying the reasons for his provisional detention had ended. He said how to handle the case would be determined soon, insisting it was a "criminal" not a "political" case.
"Now, we hope that Ayman will be referred to a fair and quick trial," Hmeida said.
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