Egyptian court rejects request to review prominent dissident's jail sentence

An Egyptian court turned down a request Thursday by the country's leading opposition prisoner to review whether his jail sentence was endangering his health, his wife said.

Ayman Nour, who is serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly forging signatures on petitions to register his political party, has complained of heart and eye problems. Last year, Nour, a diabetic who depends on insulin, underwent cardiovascular surgery while a prisoner.

"It took the court only a few minutes to take the decision," Gamila Ismail told The Associated Press. "They just ignored all the documents we produced."

The court had indicated earlier this month that it would review Nour's case, and it was unclear why officials decided not to on Thursday. Ismail said her husband needs urgent heart surgery and accused the authorities of delaying a medical examination.

Nour challenged President Hosni Mubarak for the presidency in 2005, finishing a distant second in Egypt's first contested presidential elections. International rights groups and Western governments rebuked Egypt for prosecuting him, adding weight to Nour's charge that the trial was politically motivated _ an accusation Egypt denies.

Nour has also been questioned in recent months on allegations of slander initiated by pro-government lawmaker and editor, Mustafa Bakri, who accused Nour of publishing "blasphemous" remarks in his party's newspaper.

Ismail has been critical of U.S. President George W. Bush's administration and accused it of turning a blind eye to her husband's case in favor of winning Mubarak's support for U.S. policies in the region.

The U.S. was critical of Nour's conviction in January and pressed its ally Mubarak to carry out democratic reforms. But U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not mention Nour's case to Mubarak during a March visit to Egypt. Instead, she praised the Egyptian leader for his support of U.S. Mideast policies.