Cablegate: Egypt: Ayman Nour in Prison Hospital, Hunger

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS CAIRO 009349

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

NSC STAFF FOR SINGH

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: AYMAN NOUR IN PRISON HOSPITAL, HUNGER
STRIKE CONTINUES

REF: CAIRO 9209

Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

1. (SBU) Multiple Ghad Party contacts confirm press reports
that opposition leader Ayman Nour was tranferred on December
17 to the hospital in Mazra' Torah prison, just south of
Cairo. Contacts advised that Nour, who is diabetic and also
suffers from heart disease, was deteriorating. Nour
announced during the December 12 session of his forgery trial
that he was beginning a hunger strike.

2. (SBU) A senior Ghad Party contact told us that prison
authorities had sent Nour a prison chaplain to persuade him
to give up his hunger strike. Nour refused, according to our
contact, and instead invited the chaplain to join him in the
strike. The next session of the trial is set for December
24. Observers expect that the judge will announce the
verdict and pass sentence on that day.

JONES

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