CAIRO: Imprisoned opposition leader Ayman Nour asked U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday to look into whether Egypt can benefit from a U.S. offer to help developing countries develop nuclear energy. Nour, President Hosni Mubarak s main rival in presidential elections last year, is serving a five-year sentence for forgery but says the charges were fabricated to keep him out of politics. At a news conference with Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit on Tuesday, Rice described Nour s imprisonment as a setback and a disappointment. Abul-Gheit said Nour s case had gone through due legal process. But in his letter to Rice, released on Wednesday in the form of a statement by the El-Ghad Party, Nour surprisingly did not mention his own case or complain at the government s treatment of his party. Instead, he said Egypt needed six 2,000 megawatt nuclear reactors to produce half its electricity needs and replace natural gas, which now produces much of Egypt s electricity. President George W. Bush offered last week to provide developing countries with small-scale reactors that are secure and cost-effective, provided they forego activities which could lead to nuclear weapons. Nour faulted the Egyptian government for failing to ask about Bush s offer before it supported the United States against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency this month. Analysts said Nour raised the nuclear issue to underline his concern with issues other than his treatment by the government. Reuters
