Ayman Nour released!

Ayman Nour, the El Ghad ("Tomorrow") party leader, has been released from prison!  He was imprisoned after the 2005 Egyptian presidential  election, where he garnered 12 % of the vote against current president Hosni Mubarek.  2005 marked the first multiparty election in Mubarek's 28 year authoritarian rule.  The election, managed by the Mubarek's  governing party, was criticized by international observers for a lack of transparency.

Today, after four years in prison, Ayman Nour was suddenly released.  Nour's early release is seen as political gesture intended to mitigate popular perceptions regarding events in Gaza and the recent wave of arrests of  bloggers and Islamists.  An editor of a prominent Cairo newspaper stated today that the release could be explained as part of Egyptian government's desire to improve ties to the new American administration .

Ayman Nour resides in the quarter of Zamalek (where I live in Cairo), and after people heard news of his release, many flooded to his home.  Nour gave an interview, in which he told reporters and supporters that he remains undaunted and he that he seeks to rebuild his party and continue democratization efforts in Egypt.

Back to the ivory tower

Second semester has finally started at the American University in Cairo.  I'm really excited with my courses.  Here they are:

-Second semester Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. 

-Government and Politics of Egypt

-International Relations of the Middle East

-Modern Movements of Islam

-Special Topics in International Relations

It's funny to be back at AUC.   I've resolved to not be perturbed by anything that bothered me last semester, like the hour to 1.5 hour commute each way, or the layers of bureaucracy that complicate the simplest tasks.  Instead, I'm completely placid about everything and rolling with the punches.  

In other news, my new apartment in Zamalek is quite nice.  It's so different from the old apartment on Sharia Sheik Raihan, downtown.  We live in a tall tower near the AUC dorms.  Our balcony overlooks the Nile and the neighborhood of Imbaba is just across the river.  Imbaba is where Napoleon fought the "Battle of the Pyriamids" (the Giza

Pyramids can be seen from our balcony on a clear day).  Four other people from Mount Holyoke are living here.  It's funny to be in an enclave of MHC, it feels like we're all on the same page.  Last night someone Google Earthed the MHC campus, and several of us stood grinning stupidly at the screen while reminiscing.  

That's all I have time for- I'm dashing off to class.

Masalaama,

Julia