CAIRO: Head of Al-Ghad party and former presidential candidate Ayman Nour was banned from traveling to the United States Wednesday upon the decree of Prosecutor General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud. Mahmoud said that Nour, who was released from prison on health grounds in February, is not allowed to travel. In a press conference held at his office downtown, Nour said the decision to ban him is unfounded and lacks logic and common sense. He added that the Prosecutor General previously allowed him to travel to Belgium where he addressed the European Parliament last April. Nour cited Gamal Mubarak s trip to the US next month as a reason for this ban. Gamal Mubarak wants to dominate the political scene internally and also outside of Egypt without any attention being diverted away from him, he said. I will take part in all the conferences I have been invited to from Cairo through video conferencing. Nour said that the Prosecutor General had requested a copy of all the invites sent to him in order to issue a travel permit. We presented him with all the invitations; when we translated them to Arabic upon his request, he banned me from traveling, Nour explained. Meanwhile, the Prosecutor denied a request by Nour to reopen the case filed against him over forgery charges after new evidence was found. Nour was charged with forging affidavits needed to set up his political party. Although many believed the charges were trumped, he was sentenced to five years in prison but later released on health grounds. Nour s trip was due to start on Nov. 6. He received invitations from numerous associations, including one from the Coalition of Egyptian-US Organizations. Besides Nour, the coalition invited nine other Egyptian representatives to a conference discussing the future of Egypt: Head of the NDP's policies committee Gamal Mubarak, Nobel Prize winner Ahmed Zeweil, current IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei, head of parliament Ahmed Fathy Sorour, chief of staff Zakaria Azmy, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, Judge Hisham Al-Bastawisy and MP Ahmed Ezz. Nour was due to give speeches at the Council of American Foreign Affairs and the National Endowment for Democracy, as well as meet with members of the American Congress and former US president Jimmy Carter. My trip did not include meeting with government officials or government funded research centers, he explained. I believe my trip has only been postponed; I will seek legal assistance to reclaim my right to travel in order to proceed with my trip in January of next year.
