Mubarak’s Sole Rival Faces Charges

The only man who has dared to challenge Hosni Mubarak for the Egyptian presidency was charged Tuesday with forging signatures to win approval for his party, calling into question the multi-candidate election Mubarak has called for.

Ayman Nour said he relished a court fight, saying it would give him a platform for his campaign and his criticism of Mubarak’s regime.

Mubarak last month called for September’s presidential election to be open to other candidates for the first time, but some in the opposition have said the move would not bring real change and that any rival to the man who has ruled Egypt for 25 years wouldn’t have a fair contest. A trial could undermine or even knock out the first potential candidate.

Still, Nour insisted that a trial would only boost his standing.

“I’m personally the happiest person in Egypt by this decision, because every session of this trial will be a chance to meet our people and supporters,” he told Associated Press. “The regime will stand trial in this court.”

Prosecutors accused Nour of forging signatures required for the registration application of his Al Ghad (“Tomorrow”) Party. The 40-year-old politician denies the charges, saying they are an attempt to wreck him politically.

The accusation represented an escalation in the government’s confrontation with Nour, the most prominent figure in Egypt’s fledgling opposition movement. Nour was arrested in January and detained for six weeks without charge, sparking tensions between Egypt and the United States, which demanded his release. The dispute came at a time when Washington was pressing Cairo to lead democratic change in the Middle East.

Hours after he was charged, U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said Washington saw Nour’s trial as a test to determine Egypt’s commitment to upholding the rule of law.

After Mubarak opened the door for a multiparty presidential election, Nour announced from jail his intent to run, then repeated it last week in front of hundreds of cheering supporters after his release from custody.

He had been one of many calling for an open election, but the arrest put the savvy populist at the center of the growing democratic movement in Egypt.

“We will continue to fight this dictatorship,” said Nour, who contends that people planted by the government forged the papers to frame him. He promised to expose them in court, and to expose those who “forged the will of the nation” during the last half a century of elections in Egypt.

If he were convicted, Nour could face a prison term of up to 15 years and would lose his right to run for office, though the right would be restored if he successfully appealed.