Egypt, 2nd Largest Aid Recipient

After Israel, the U.S.’s next largest aid recipient is Egypt.

How does democracy fare there? Following are excerpts from a recent Washington Post article:

Sitting in a prison cell halfway around the planet, an Egyptian opposition leader forced President Bush this month to confront the question of how serious he was when he vowed to devote his second term to "ending tyranny in our world."

Ayman Nour, who dared challenge Egypt's authoritarian leader [Hosni Mubarak] in manipulated elections, was sentenced on Christmas Eve to five years on what U.S. officials consider bogus charges.

President Hosni Mubarak agreed to let challengers run against him for the first time , a visiting Laura Bush praised the "wise and bold" move. But shortly after she left, Mubarak supporters orchestrated attacks on democracy demonstrators. The presidential election was manipulated, and a subsequent parliamentary election degenerated into violence and mass arrests.

The arrest of Nour [who ran] against Mubarak presented a singular challenge to Bush, who promised in his inaugural address to stand with "democratic reformers facing repression, prison or exile." The White House pronounced itself "deeply troubled" and demanded Mubarak "release Mr. Nour from detention."

Nour remains behind bars.

UPDATE May 2006:
CAIRO, May 18 -- An appeals court on Thursday upheld the fraud conviction of Ayman Nour, the candidate who challenged President Hosni Mubarak and his 25 years of one-man rule in elections last year, effectively consigning the fiery lawyer to five years in prison.