Trial set for Egypt opposition leader

Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nur and six supporters will appear before a Cairo criminal court on 28 June to face forgery charges, a judge has said.

Ayman Nur is charged with forging affidavits

Nur, leader of al-Ghad Party, is accused of forging more than 1400 affidavits of founding members he presented to the political parties committee to register his movement last year. 
  
Criminal case

Judge Ahmad Khalifa announced the date for the beginning of the trial nearly four days after Attorney-General Mahir Abd al-Wahid formally brought charges against the 40-year-old politician. 
  
Abd al-Wahid also insisted that the case, which has attracted interest abroad, was of a criminal rather than political nature as Nur and his associates have claimed.
  
Nur, who was released on bail on 12 March after six weeks in prison, has blamed a security official for fabricating the evidence that put him behind bars.

Washington’s ire
  
His detention strained relations between Cairo and Washington and turned him into a symbol of the movement for democratic reform.
  
He has repeatedly said he will run in the September polls – the first multi-candidate and direct presidential elections in Egypt – although he may not qualify under conditions being drawn up.

Source: AFP