Imprisoned oppositionist Ayman Nour has issued a response to criticism in Egypt for his open letter to U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama (see "In Egypt, Legal Complaint Filed Over Ayman Nour's Letter To Obama";
"Mixed Reactions In Egypt To Ayman Nour's Letter To Obama";
and "Imprisoned Egyptian Liberal Oppositionist Ayman Nour Writes Open Letter to Barack Obama.")
In his response, Nour noted that what he wrote was not a letter to Obama but an article, similar to articles he had written in the past addressed to, inter alia, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
He also stated that the attacks on him were from personal motives, and had nothing to do with the content of his article.
He noted that in writing the article he was acting in accordance with freedom of expression, and that he had had no intention of presenting a negative picture of Egypt to the West, because Egypt was first of all the Egyptian people, not a specific person or regime.
Source: Al-Masryoon, Egypt, August 25, 2008
