CAIRO: Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the Egyptian-American academic and vocal government critic, returned to Egypt late Wednesday for his first visit after a three-year self exile despite outstanding complaints filed against him for damaging Egyptian interests.
The political sociology professor told journalists at the airport that this was a family visit, with no political or public activities planned.
He told the Associated Press he was looking forward to "quietly" meeting with former students, friends and family. "I hope nothing will happen."
There was no prior coordination with the Egyptian government to assure his safety during the two-week visit, he said at the airport.
A tearful Ibrahim told journalists at the airport he was glad to return and that he was touched by the warm reception.
Ibrahim didn’t face problems at the airport; his wife Barbara told Daily News Egypt it took him “seconds” to go through passport control.
Saad Eddin Ibrahim’s return is coming at a sensitive period as opposition voices have become more vocal than ever before, especially over rising prices and the widespread belief that President Hosni Mubarak is trying to engineer his son’s succession.
In fact it was Ibrahim, 71, himself who was among the first Egyptians to publicly criticize in 2000 signs that Mubarak might looking to hand over the reins of power to his son.
Ten years ago, Ibrahim was charged with embezzlement and tarnishing the image of the country in a series of trials and imprisonments that dragged on for three years and came to symbolize the state’s intolerance of criticism.
The US administration criticized his incarceration and the issue became a sore point between the two governments.
Ibrahim was eventually acquitted and continued writing and advocating for greater freedoms in Egypt. Following his meeting with former US President George W. Bush three years ago and his call to suspend US aid to Egypt to pressure its government for political reform, he was faced with a series of complaints filed by private citizens with links to the government. This forced him to leave the country or face more lengthy litigation.
He received a two-year sentence in 2008 in one of those cases but was freed after appeal.
His lawyer Shady Talaat said Egypt’s prosecutor "reassured" him that Ibrahim is not on a wanted list but declined to discuss nine outstanding complaints.
Talaat said he feared the complaints were being kept in reserve by the government and could still be implemented. There are concerns Ibrahim would be banned from traveling back to the US in case investigation starts in the complaints.
Observers say lawsuits filed by private citizens have become the government’s new way to intimidate its opponents.
The latest complaint came this year when one lawyer accused Ibrahim of facilitating contact between the US administration and another Egyptian government opponent, Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the UN nuclear agency.
ElBaradei’s recent return to Egypt and his campaign for constitutional reform has irked the government and its supporters.
Ibrahim recently wrote, after meeting ElBaradei with other Egyptians living abroad, that the former diplomat needs a "plan B" to push for reform in Egypt. "He may not be a field fighter … but is he ready for civil disobedience?"
Talaat said the authorities are unlikely interested in harassing Ibrahim at this stage because his return does not represent a real threat to them.
"There is no serious presidential candidate for next year’s elections for Ibrahim to support," he said. The government "has no fear of anything."
Ibrahim described the current political scene as active stressed he won’t take part in it. . “I am not a candidate for anything,” said Ibrahim. “I am playing my role as a citizen concerned with Egypt’s problems, and I express my opinion in Egyptian and Arab press.” – Additional reporting by Magdy Samaan for Daily News Egypt.
