Ayman Nour and his party

The surreal scenes of yesterday captured the savage reality of politics in Egypt perfectly: Ayman Nour speaking to a massive crowd of journalists and supporters crammed into the burnt-out party office in Downtown Cairo, while riot police and plain-clothes security officers waited for a rumoured demonstration for "disappeared" party activist Hossam Shatata - from Nours party - that never took place. While party activists at the meeting expressed hopes that Nour's release would mark a turning point for Egypt and an opportunity to rebuild their party, real political parties are built by grassroots activists like Shahata, not single-handedly by leaders and public figures like Nour. As long as thugs can attack an opposition party headquarters and security agents kidnap its activists with impunity, it's impossible to speak of any real change in Egypt.