CAIRO - Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nur, seen by some as a symbol of the movement for democratic reform, was freed on bail Saturday after six weeks in detention, Attorney General Maher Abdel Wahed told reporters.
Nur, who heads the Ghad (Tomorrow) party, was detained on January 29 on charges of "falsifying official documents".
He was freed after paying 10,000 Egyptian pounds (1,400 dollars) along with five supporters who had been detained for the same reasons.
"The release was ordered because there is no longer any reason for his preventive detention," Abdel Wahed said. "The preventive detention had been ordered in order to allow for an investigation to be carried out in the utmost secrecy and ensure that no evidence was concealed."
The 45-day preventive detention which had been ordered when Nur was arrested was due to expire in two days.
Nur was arrested just days after he met with visiting former American secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who heads a US body to promote democracy.
His arrest by Egyptian security services coincided with a wave of political changes in the Middle East, manifested in Egypt by growing calls for reform and opposition to President Hosni Mubarak.
Nur`s Al-Ghad party was created in October 2004, only the third time the Egyptian state allowed the creation of a new political party.
The 40-year-old lawyer is now seen by some as the symbol of the young guard and reform movement in Egypt, and by others as an opportunist with no genuine commitment to democratic values.
His imprisonment took on a new dimension when US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice chided Egypt over the move and raised the issue during a visit to Washington by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.
Although Nur is a vocal critic of Israel and was a leading figure in a campaign to boycott US products, his jailing came amid a context of growing US pressure for political reform in the region.
In late February, Mubarak called for a constitutional change allowing for a competitive presidential election, in what was seen as a move to meet internal and US demands for democratic reforms.
Nur, a wealthy lawyer married to television presenter Gamila Ismail, has a charity handing out donations to impoverished Egyptians in the Bab al-Sharia neighourhood of Baghdad he represents in parliament.
His weekly newspaper, also called Al-Ghad, hit the newsstands for the first time on Wednesday.
03/12/2005 12:02 GMT