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.