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Africa North
Egyptian oppo leader seeks nuclear reactors
2006-02-23
CAIRO - Imprisoned Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour asked US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday to look into whether Egypt can benefit from a US offer to help developing countries develop nuclear energy.

Nour, President Hosni MubarakÂ’s main rival in presidential elections last year, is serving a five-year sentence for forgery but says the charges were fabricated to keep him out of politics. One of his deputies in the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) Party, Hesham Kassem, is seeing Rice on Wednesday when she meets a group of prominent Egyptian liberals and intellectuals.

At a news conference with Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Tuesday, Rice described NourÂ’s imprisonment as a setback and a disappointment. Aboul Gheit said NourÂ’s case had gone through due legal process.
"Forget it, lady, he stays in jug!"
But in his letter to Rice, released on Wednesday in the form of a statement by the Ghad Party, Nour surprisingly did not mention his own case or complain at the governmentÂ’s treatment of his party. Instead, he said Egypt needed six 2,000 megawatt nuclear reactors to produce half its electricity needs and replace natural gas, which now produces much of EgyptÂ’s electricity.
They can't use NG because ...
President George W. Bush offered last week to provide developing countries with small-scale reactors that are secure and cost-effective, provided they forego activities, which could lead to nuclear weapons. Nour faulted the Egyptian government for failing to ask about BushÂ’s offer before it supported the United States against Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency this month.

Analysts said Nour raised the nuclear issue to underline his concern with issues other than his treatment by the government.
Posted by:Steve White

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