GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: AYMAN NOUR NOT IN NEED OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000412

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR WATERS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL KDEM EG
SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE: AYMAN NOUR NOT IN NEED OF
MEDICAL RELEASE

REF: A. CAIRO 153

B. CAIRO 318

Classified By: Minister-Counselor for Economic and Political Affairs
William R. Stewart, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Gameela Ismail, wife of imprisoned Al Ghad Party
leader Ayman Nour, told POLOFF on February 12 that a
governmental medical committee charged with evaluating Nour's
physical condition has determined that his health is
"stable." The committee found that Nour's life "is not in
danger, as long as he takes his medication and meals
regularly." (Note: As reported ref A, the medical committee
was tasked with assessing Nour's health and giving a
recommendation to the Public Prosecutor regarding his alleged
need for humanitarian release after Nour's lawyer formally
applied for his medical parole in September 2006. End note).
Officials at the Public Prosecutor's office confirmed to us
on February 14 that the committee found Nour's health to be
"stable." A clearly depressed Ismail commented to POLOFF
that "there is no hope - all avenues for Nour's release have
been blocked."


2. (SBU) The medical committee's findings were complemented
by a February 12 report on Nour's health prepared by the
Human Rights Committee of the People's Assembly, which also
concluded that Nour does not need to be released early on
medical parole. A dissenting member of the HR Committee,
Muslim Brotherhood parliamentarian Mahmud Amir, alleged in a
February 12 TV interview that, "if Nour does not receive
proper medical help, he will die." Asserting that Nour
suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, arterial
blockage, high blood pressure in the eye, and bone and joint
problems, Amir recommended that Nour be placed in a
"specialized hospital that can attend to his medical needs,
but under custody of the Interior Ministry, so he will still
be imprisoned." Amir Salem, Nour's lawyer, noted to the
press that both committees' findings are a "political
decision," and that the medical committee report, "was issued
by ... the Prisons Department, and the medical examiners,
with all due respect, work for the Interior Ministry."


3. (C) Although this particular avenue for a humanitarian
release (i.e., the Public Prosecutor granting medical parole
after receiving a recommendation from a government medical
committee) has apparently been exhausted, President Mubarak
still retains the legal right to grant Nour amnesty - either
for humanitarian reasons, or a general amnesty.
RICCIARDONE