Newsreel

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Nour in jail

ON MONDAY, the Cairo Criminal Court ordered that Ayman Nour, chairman of the liberal opposition Ghad Party, be detained until 10 December, when the next hearing in his forgery trial takes place, reports Mona El-Nahhas.

Nour was put in a police truck and driven to Tora Prison. The judge provided no reason for the ruling, which encompassed Nour and the other five defendants. Nour's lawyer, Amir Salim, said he interpreted the decision as a sign that Nour would be convicted and sentenced on 10 December. "The detention order was a surprise for Nour's defense team, which was still preparing his plea," Salem said. He described the judge's ruling as "a political decision void of any legal bases".

Nour's wife, TV announcer Gamila Ismail, voiced similar concerns. "It's very clear that the judge has a verdict prepared, regardless of the trial proceedings," she said. "They want to get rid of [Nour] so that he can't ever take part in politics again."

Nour's supporters inside the courtroom started singing the national anthem after the judge made his statement. Outside the court building, which was surrounded by hundreds of riot police, more than 100 supporters shouted anti- government slogans.

Nour was arrested in January on charges of forging membership applications required for registering his party. In March, he was released on LE10,000 bail after his detention strained Egypt's relations with the US. His trial started last June. Nour and his supporters described the case against him as state- fabricated, aimed at undermining his political future.

Nour was President Hosni Mubarak's main rival in Egypt's first multi- candidate presidential elections in September, winning eight per cent of the vote compared to Mubarak's 89 per cent. In subsequent parliamentary elections, Nour lost his seat representing the Cairo constituency of Bab El-Shariya. He blamed government intimidation, electoral fraud and ballot box tampering for his defeat.

Troubled waters

THE WAFD Party appears to be descending into turmoil following its poor showing in both the presidential and parliamentary elections. Party Chairman Noaman Gomaa dismissed his deputy Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour this week. Abdel-Nour, who was the head of the opposition bloc in the outgoing parliament, lost his seat in the current elections. He told the media that his defeat was the result of the "party not supporting him," and insinuated that Gomaa might have been "very happy" about the loss.

Abdel-Nour also said that the only way the party could improve would be by "changing its leadership". He said there was much support within the party for such a change.

According to party sources, the Wafd split into two camps after Gomaa's poor showing in the presidential polls, with one group demanding that Gomaa leave his post as chairman. That demand became even more pronounced after the party also did poorly in the parliamentary polls.

Hamza on trial

THE UK-BASED trial of prominent Egyptian engineer Mamdouh Hamza has begun. Hamza is accused of conspiring to assassinate four leading Egyptian government officials. He was arrested upon his arrival in London on 12 July 2004, just one day before he was scheduled to meet the Queen at a Buckingham Palace garden party. Hamza's hit list allegedly included Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman, Parliamentary Speaker Fathi Sorour, State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kamal El-Shazli, and Chief of Presidential Staff Zakaria Azmi.

During the trial, the prosecutor revealed that Hamza had met with two undercover officers -- known as "Tommy" and "Anthony" -- whom he thought were hit men. Hamza allegedly paid $100,000 to arrange the murder of his "archenemy", Suleiman, without whose intervention, he claimed, he would have been prime minister. Tommy also testified in court about the alleged discussions he had with Hamza, in which the latter explained the details of how he wanted the assassination to take place.

The court was told that Hamza wanted to make the assassinations look like a series of political murders carried out by terrorists. During his meetings with Tommy and Anthony, Hamza supposedly said that he wanted the targets shot and not blown up. Hamza was arrested after his second meeting with the undercover officers. Maps -- supposedly drawn by Hamza -- showing where his targets lived were provided to the court as evidence.

Hamza told the court that he had not intended the people to be killed, but wanted to research how well they were protected. The trial is ongoing.

When the story first appeared in July 2004, many Egyptians were shocked that Hamza -- the head of Hamza Associates, one of the largest engineering firms in the Middle East, and a consultant on mega projects like the award- winning Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the lifting stations at Toshka and the design of Sharq Al-Tafreea Canal -- was being charged with four counts of soliciting to murder. The case has triggered a flurry of speculation in Egypt, where Hamza has been hailed by most of the media -- whether state-owned, opposition or independent -- as a model citizen and an outstanding public figure. Some pundits had suggested that Suleiman himself might have had some role in entrapping Hamza, a charge that the minister has vehemently denied.