CAIRO: U.S. President George W. Bush has praised a group of young reformers close to an influential son of the Egyptian president, including the trade and industry minister who local press have mooted as the next prime minister. Bush also said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Monday that President Hosni Mubarak should release Ayman Nour, an opposition politician jailed last year. I ve talked to ... a group of young reformers who are now in government. There s an impressive group of younger Egyptians - the trade minister and some of the economic people - that understand the promise and the difficulties of democracy, he said. Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid together with Finance Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali and Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieddin are policymakers at the heart of economic reforms in Egypt over the last two years. They are seen as close to Gamal Mubarak, one of the most influential figures in the ruling National Democratic Party, who analysts, diplomats and opposition groups say has been positioned to take over from his 78-year-old father. Bush told The Wall Street Journal that Nour s jailing was disappointing. Washington has described his imprisonment as a setback for democracy in Egypt. I have spoken to Mubarak a lot about democracy, Bush said. Nour, who came a distant second to Mubarak in the country s first multi-candidate presidential election last September, was sentenced to five years in jail in December on charges of forging signatures to found his opposition El-Ghad Party. Nour says the charges were fabricated by the authorities. Egypt s highest appeal court in May rejected his appeal for a retrial. The United States condemned Nour s jailing but has exerted less public pressure for greater political freedoms in Egypt after a strong performance by Islamists in parliamentary elections last year. Bush said he had spoken to Gamal about the liberal Nour. We were disappointed about Nour, The Wall Street Journal quoted Bush as saying. Asked whether he thought President Mubarak should release Nour, Bush said: Yes, I do, but he ll make those decisions based upon his own laws. Agencies
