CAIRO: Leading Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour has been banned from leaving Egypt by the State Security. Nour, who has been pushing forward on a campaign against Gamal Mubarak becoming the country's next president, was given the final word on Wednesday that he was denied a passport, meaning possible meetings with Vice-President Joe Biden and an invitation from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will not be honored. “The public prosecutor issued an administrative decision to prevent me from traveling to the United States of America and some other countries in the Middle East and Europe. My trip to the US was planned to start on November 6, 2009,” Nour said in a press release on Wednesday late afternoon. He had been looking to the U.S. trip as a means of getting his message to American leaders and politicians in an effort to promote democracy, but instead, Cairo has handed down an overwhelming “no” to the man who has become the posterchild for Western governments looking to Egypt as a place for increased democratic reform. (see also “Egypt ‘thugs' attack Ayman Nour and colleagues in Hurghada, reports of American intervention”) “The decision of the public prosecutor was shocking and unjustified, especially that I recently got a permit to visit the European Parliament in Belgium in April 2009. During that visit, I met with different European leaders and conducted a great part of my medical examinations, and postponed the other examinations because I could not have visa to UK from Belgium,” he said. In an October 7 invitation from the Carnegie Institute, Nour was invited to attend a policy seminar on November 20. In the invitation, Nour was scheduled to speak in front of a “select audience of U.S. government officials and leading on Egypt and U.S. policy in the Middle East to participate in what we expect will be a stimulating discussion.” Now, Nour must remain in Egypt. His supporters argue that the Egyptian denial is based on his growing profile and popularity among Egyptians and signals a move by the government to stem his growth as a viable candidate for the 2011 presidential campaign. “This denial of the travel permit, though resting on putative legal grounds, is largely viewed as a step in an overall pattern exhibited by the Egyptian government of stifling dissent and undermining dissidents and their efforts to promote democracy and human rights in Egypt,” wrote Dina Guirguis, the Executive Director of Voices for a Democratic Egypt (VDE). “The denial of travel comes at a critical time, as Egypt gears up for parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010 and 2011 respectively, amid observation regarding the grooming of Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal for presidential succession.” Carnegie said that Nour's work as a “leading opposition politician and advocate of political and civil rights in Egypt is well known in Washington and we expect strong interest in this event.” It is not to be. The public prosecutor's decision to ban the al-Ghad chief was lambasted by Nour and his supporters, who argue it is a violation of the opposition leader's rights as an Egyptian citizen. “The public prosecutor’s decision is conflicting with the stipulations of the Egyptian Constitution: Article 50 stipulates that ‘it is not acceptable to prohibit a citizen from staying somewhere or to be forced to stay somewhere.' Article 52 stipulates that ‘citizens have the right to permanent or temporary immigration abroad.' Add to this the absence of objective reasons that would have prevented me from practicing this right; in other words there is no possibility that I will escape abroad, and I do not owe money to any entity and my stay at home is a guarantee to paying. Actually, the public prosecutor has previously allowed those who had such legal obstacles to travel abroad,” Nour stated bluntly. The American Embassy in Cairo had been working hard to secure Nour's visit, but it seems their efforts have come up short. According to an American democracy advocate, the Embassy had initially not given Nour a visa, but then pushed one through at the last minute in order to allow the Egyptian politician to travel. But, the Egyptian side refused to grant Nour permission to travel, highlighting the growing concern among the ruling National Democratic Party over the man's popularity. “We assert that insistence on violating our rights will increase our belief in the right of Egyptian to democratic and nonviolent reform. We will work hard on putting an end to this unbearable situation and we will keep fighting against inheriting our country or depriving our people from practicing their rights,” Nour added. Nour came in a distant second to President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential vote and was jailed shortly after on corruption charges his supporters argue were trumped up and not true. He was released from his imprisonment earlier this year and has been leading opposition groups in a campaign against the younger Gamal's potential run at the presidency. BM
