Opposition Leader Freed in Egypt

CAIRO — An Egyptian opposition leader who had announced from jail that he would run for president was released to a hero’s welcome Saturday, weeks after Washington raised concerns about his imprisonment.

Ayman Nour, frail and still wearing his prison jumpsuit, stepped out of Cairo’s police headquarters and flashed a V-for-victory sign to supporters.

Word of the 40-year-old lawmaker’s release spread quickly, and within 15 minutes, a crowd of 400 supporters swelled to a few thousand.

“We are paying the price of our search for freedom,” Nour said. “They tried for days to destroy a national project, the Tomorrow Party. But they failed.”

As the crowd cheered, Nour repeated his recent pledge to run for president against Hosni Mubarak, who has been in office for 24 years. Nour first made the announcement shortly after Mubarak issued a surprise order that Egypt’s constitution be amended to permit multi-candidate elections this year.

Mubarak, as the sole candidate, has won every presidential referendum since 1981.

Nour has not been charged with a crime, but he was accused of presenting fraudulent signatures to get a license for his party. Nour and his party have maintained that the accusations were an effort by the ruling party to eliminate him as a rival.

Washington called Nour’s release a positive development.

“We welcome the release today of Ayman Nour,” said Lou Fintor, a State Department spokesman. “We look forward to steps Egypt will be taking over the coming months to expand political participation.”

Nour’s Tomorrow Party was not approved until late last year and was only the third to be legalized in the last 25 years. It has only seven legislators in Egypt’s 454-seat parliament.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she raised “very strong concerns” about Nour last month when she met Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit in Washington.

However, Nour distanced himself from the U.S. efforts. “We are not America’s men, and we are not anybody else’s men. We are the men of Egypt only,” he said to applause and whistles from the crowd.