Egyptian politician vows to contest government-imposed US travel ban

Cairo Egyptian dissident Ayman Nour, who contested the 2005 presidential elections against President Hosni Mubarak, has vowed to challenge a decision barring him from travelling to the United States.

"I'll participate in conferences to which I am invited in the United States via the video-conference technology or the internet," Nour said yesterday.

"The [government] seems to want to monopolise visits to the United States and limit them to the [ruling] National Democratic Party."

Egyptian authorities on Wednesday barred Nour, who had trailed a distant second to Mubarak in the 2005 poll, from leaving for the United States to attend conferences, including a meeting with the Egyptian-US Relations Council. Authorities said Nour is only allowed to leave for the United States on medical grounds.

Nour, a diabetic, was last April allowed to travel to Belgium on a medical trip where he also attended a conference.

Nour accused official agencies, which he did not name, of being behind the decision to prevent him from going to the United States.