The release of former Ghad (tomorrow) Party chairman Ayman Nour at this time in particular is a goodwill gesture from the Egyptian regime to its U.S. counterpart, head of Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies Saad Eddin Ibrahim said. The Egyptian regime alleged that Nour was released for health reasons to "save its face and not to appear as being subject to external pressures, Ibrahim said.
In a phone call with Al-Masry Al-Youm from the US city of Boston, Ibrahim said the Egyptian regime "always denies that there are external pressures on its decision-making," stressing that "there have been US and international pressure, but the choice of this time to release Nour is a gesture to the US new administration." "The international pressure for the release of Nour, which have been accumulating since a long time, reached a peak earlier this week when John F. Kerry, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, visited President Mubarak, in addition to what was published by Washington Post on its editorial on this subject."
The US analysts believe that the Washington Post's editorial and Kerry's visit have great effect on the decision on releasing Nour. "The two messages have been strongly received," Ibrahim said. In its last Monday's editorial, Washington Post said Mubarak should know that he will be welcome at the White House as soon as the charges against Mr. Ibrahim are dropped and former presidential candidate Ayman Nour is released from prison. The two steps are the only way for Egypt to improve its relationship with America. It called on US President Obama not to tolerate in these two requests.
Ibrahim did not rule out that Kerry carried a message from Obama to Mubarak on Ayman Nour, as head of the Foreign Relations Committee consults with the White House before coming to Egypt.
This gesture will help Obama, Ibrahim asserted, to extend his hand to Egypt because he really wants to do that, but he waits for such steps so that he would not be criticized by the opposition in Congress, the media and civil society.
Egypt should not be the first Islamic state to be visited by Obama because the release of Nour is only 50% of demands while the second half includes the abolition of the state of emergency, the judiciary reforms, the freedom of the media and civil society.
