CAIRO: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemned the final verdict against opposition leader Ayman Nour and hoped the court would positively oversee the appeal, but experts believe US intervention will not be effective in Nour’s case.
According to Agence France Presse, Rice discussed the case with President Mubarak in her last visit to the Middle East.
“I talked about it extensively with President Mubarak and I said that I was disappointed that the court decision had come out as it did, Rice told AFP. “Certainly, it is the hope of the US that the appeal would be looked upon favorably.
After running against President Mubarak in the last presidential elections, Nour was accused of forging documents needed for the establishment of his opposition Al Ghad party in 2004. He was then sentenced to five years in jail on Jan. 29, 2005.
The State Council ruled on June 26 that his trial would be adjourned to July 3 pending forensic reports on his medical condition from the Forensic Medicine Authority. The decision was pending more than once in several court hearings, until it finally came out on July 31 against his request.
The US embassy in Cairo told Daily News Egypt that it had no comments on Rice’s statement.
But Amir Salem, Nour’s lawyer, told Daily News Egypt he does not have any faith nor trust in the US intervention in the case.
“The US intervention has not been of any benefit during the past three years concerning. I think that the Egyptian-American mutual local and regional interests are far much larger than this case, said Salem.
He added that the Egyptian judiciary does not allow foreign intervention and will not respond to US comments, either positively or negatively.
“The judiciary is independent and the US will not have any effect on it. It is an internal battle between the current regime and the opposition forces, against lawyers and judges, said Salem.
He said the defense team will present the appeal during the coming week, while the court will oversee it on Sept.2.
Emad Gad, a political analyst at Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, told Daily News Egypt that the US intervention in Nour’s case will have negative repercussions.
“Egyptian-American relations are unstable. The interference in such cases might lead to tarnishing Nour’s reputation. People will think he is an American agent, and when it comes to this, Egyptians will not sympathize with his case, said Gad.
He added that presenting an appeal to the verdict while the US interferes does not necessarily guarantee Nour’s release.
“There is no doubt that the political leadership in Egypt listens to America, but it depends on the case itself. In Nour’s example, things might get even worse if the US interferes, said Gad.
