EGYPT: Former presidential candidate says nation ‘born again’

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Former Egyptian presidential candidate Ayman Nour, who finished second to longtime President Hosni Mubarak in 2005, said the nation had been reborn Friday and that the Egyptian army understood its mission to prepare for civilian rule.

“This is the greatest day in the history of Egypt, that will not be repeated. This nation has been born again. These people have been born again, and this is a new Egypt,” Nour told Al Jazeera television Friday.

‘We look forward to the transition period which is a period that will take us to a civilian state that will meet our legitimate demands of having a civilian free country,’ he said, adding that the new government would be based on human rights.

‘I believe the army is aware of its mission in preserving the situation until we move to the civilian period,’ said Nour, who came in a distant second to Mubarak in the 2005 race, the only multi-candidate presidential election to be held in Egypt. -- Molly Hennessy-Fiske