CAIRO: The Foreign Affairs committee at the People s Assembly (PA) released a statement condemning US President George W. Bush's criticism of jailing members of the opposition during his speech Tuesday in the Czech Republic, Mohamed Khalil Kwaitah, PA member affiliated with the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) told The Daily Star Egypt. The speech highlighted the case of Ayman Nour, former president and founder of Al-Ghad political party, ex-chief editor of Al-Ghad newspaper and contestant in the 2005 presidential elections. There are many other dissidents who could not join us because they are unjustly imprisoned or held under house arrest. I look forward to the day when conferences like this one include ... Ayman Nour of Egypt, Bush said. This interference is totally unacceptable, no one has the right to interfere in Egypt s internal affairs, Kwaitah said. He also indicated that Bush is the last to comment, he should rather check out what is going on at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Although the PA Foreign Affairs committee s statement delivered a harsh personal message to Bush, Kwaitah said that Egyptian-American relations remain as it normal and strong. Hossam Bahgat, chairman of the Egyptian Initiative of Personal Rights organization described Bush's speech as including nice words yet in conflict with the US s internal and external policies. The US is in no position to lead by example. It is very difficult for it to claim a moral high ground with its local and international policies, Bahgat told The Daily Star Egypt. However, Bahgat does not believe the PA's position is much better, as it failed to support an ex-PA member [Ayman Nour] whose jail sentence was politically-motivated. According to Bahgat, the PA s failure to stand up for Nour removes the legitimacy of its comments on Nour s case. Amir Salem, Nour s lawyer, told The Daily Star Egypt that the Egyptian media and governmental newspapers overreacted in their reaction to the US president s speech. We as opposition should be the ones upset with American interference in our country s affairs, which is taking place in many aspects, with the approval of the Egyptian government, Salem said. The Egyptian government claims its authority over all our national concerns, while in fact it does not, Salem added. On the other hand, Salem does not believe Bush s speech would help Nour s case. On the contrary what happened will only lead to more damage, Salem said. Bush in particular and the US in general are both disliked by the Egyptian public and any talk that comes from their side will be disregarded, says Salem. Nour s wife, Gamila Ismail, former TV presenter, is the one who drew the US's attention to the case as, the Associated Press reported, she accused the US of ignoring Nour for the sake of maintaining support by the Egyptian government. Nour is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for forging signatures on powers of attorney required to register his political party. However, most observers believe the hidden yet true reason for his detainment is because he challenged President Mubarak in the first presidential elections held two years ago.
