Three lawyers representing deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s volunteer Kuwaiti defense team arrived in Cairo on Sunday, declaring their gratitude for Mubarak's role in defending Kuwait against Saddam Hussein and describing the former Egyptian president as "the best Arab leader since Nasser."
“We came to defend the leader who defended Arab nationalism,” said lawyer Faysal al-Otaiby, one of three Kuwaiti lawyers defending Mubarak. The other two lawyers who arrived on Sunday are Ayed al-Sabyei and Bashayer Habib Gaafar.
“Mubarak stood with Kuwait at the time of the Iraqi invasion,” said Otaiby, adding that Mubarak should be respected for agreeing to step down and not kill his people like Qaddafi and Bashar al-Assad.
“He could have fled the country like Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali,” he said. “Instead, he chose to stand for trial.”
“We came to see how justice is carried out in Egypt, not to interfere in your internal affairs,” he continued, noting that relations between the people of the two countries are strong and would not be affected by them coming to defend Mubarak.
The Kuwaitis said that four more lawyers were supposed to have joined them but had to cancel their trip after the Egyptian justice minister said he would not give permits for more lawyers, commenting that many Egyptians are against Kuwaiti lawyers defending Mubarak.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
