Opposition leader attacked
2005-05-06 11:48
Cairo - A convoy carrying an opposition leader was attacked by an angry crowd carrying sticks and stones in a city north of Cairo on Thursday, police and party officials said. Nine people were injured.
Ayman Nour, leader of al-Ghad, or Tomorrow, party was travelling to open a new headquarters in Sharqiya, 80 kilometres northeast of Cairo, when his convoy of cars and buses was stopped by hundreds of people blocking the road.
The angry mob then began beating the vehicles with sticks and stones. Nine people were wounded, said police and party deputy Ragab Helal Hemida, whose car was damaged.
Nour was not hurt in the attack.
Hemida said the mob of about 2 000 overturned one of the buses. The convoy later returned to Cairo.
Police said Sharqiya residents were angry when they learned that Nour, who has announced he will run in the September elections against President Hosni Mubarak, was coming to their village.
They held banners reading, "Go back, you agent" and "Go back, traitor."
Hemida said the party will meet on Saturday and on Sunday to discuss the latest developments. "The party might pull out from ongoing national dialogue," he said.
Talks about political reform
Some opposition parties and the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) have been engaged in dialogue to address issues of political reform.
Al-Ghad has only seven legislators in Egypt's 454—seat-parliament but the detention of Nour earlier this year has drawn wide attention.
The 40-year-old populist politician, who has long called for multi-candidate elections, was charged with forging signatures to secure approval for his political party and spent 42 days in prison without charges.
He was released on bail on March 12 and will stand trial on June 28, along with six defendants from his party.
Nour's detention became an international issue — sparking tensions with the United States, which demanded his release — and made him the most prominent figure in the increasingly vocal reform movement in Egypt.
He denies the charges against him, saying they are an attempt to wreck him politically. If he is convicted, he loses his right to run for office and could face a prison term of up to 15 years.
Nour has claimed since he declared his intention to run for president, he is being implicitly discredited by Mubarak's supporters.
In February, unidentified men, believed to be security agents, assaulted members of al-Ghad Party at a political meeting in Cairo's Giza neighbourhood, injuring a few.
Mubarak, 77, who has been in power since 1981, is widely expected to run for a fifth term though he has not yet announced his candidacy.
- AP