'No conditions'

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit affirms that the release of Ayman Nour was solely a domestic decision

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Ayman Nour's release

"No conditions have been imposed on us. And there are no conditions, none whatsoever, that the US has placed on a possible visit by President Hosni Mubarak to Washington," late in the spring, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit told a subcommittee of the ruling National Democratic Party's Policies Committee on Tuesday.

The top Egyptian diplomat flatly denied his visit to Washington earlier in the month included any "understandings", let alone an agreement, with the US administration that Egypt would release opposition figure Ayman Nour in order to pave the way for Mubarak's first visit to the US under the new administration.

"We accept no interference. Nobody has asked for anything in relation to anyone," said Abul-Gheit.

The subject of Nour, the foreign minister said, had not come up "once" during his 90-minute meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington earlier this month. "We examined the overall profile of bilateral relations and their future dynamics," Abul- Gheit told the gathering, adding that their discussions had covered developments in the Middle East alongside the commitment of both Egypt and the US to pursue regional stability in a manner that serves the interests of both.

The Nour file had become a bone of contention between Egypt and the US during the second George W Bush administration, though it was far from being the only area of controversy between the two governments. Egypt had repeatedly declined to release Nour during Bush's tenure in the White House and his release on Wednesday was interpreted in many quarters as a sign of good will from Cairo to Washington. Some even suggested an agreement over Nour's release was concluded during the foreign minister's talks in Washington with Clinton and other senior US officials.

A US State Department spokesman denied last week Washington had received any prior notification that Nour would be freed.

US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey said in Alexandria this week that the US "welcomed the release of Mr Ayman Nour and we understand that it was decided by the government of Egypt out of concern for his medical situation".

Scobey qualified the release as a "very positive step", adding that while the US supports democratisation and the promotion of human rights in Egypt it accepts that "each country has its own way of moving forward."