CAIRO: Prominent Egyptian opposition politician and al-Ghad Party head Ayman Nour has been granted a retrial of a 2005 case in which he was convicted of forgery. The Egyptian Court of Cassation accepted Nour's petition for a retrial. After the court verdict, Nour celebrated and chanted “God is great!” and “Where is Hosni Mubarak, the acquitted here.” Nour's supporters announced the acceptance of petition outside the Court. The court had formed a seven-way committee to mull the petition. On 18 May 2006, the court had affirmed the sentences against Nour, who was found guilty of forging over 1,100 powers of attorney submitted with the application to form al-Ghad Party. He served three years of a five year prison sentence in Tora Prison. Nour's supporters and human rights groups viewed the charges as politically motivated, as Nour had challenged then-President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections and placed second.
