Mohamed ElBaradei

According to an Associated Press report, ” An Egyptian official says police have released the owner of a publishing house which printed copies of a book that called for political change and praised the former head of the U.N. nuclear agency. Ahmed Mahanna, owner of Dawin publishing, was released Sunday, a day after his home and business were raided.”

The book in question is ElBaradei and the Dream of a Green Revolution, which, according to the AP, “places hope for political change on Mohammed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner.”

ElBaradei has spoken out forcefully for constitutional changes to Egypt’s elections. And, according to this earlier report in the Guardian, he has “emerged as an unlikely challenger to the 28-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak.” In this interview with the Guardian last week ElBaradei called on the west to end its support for Egypt’s “sham” democracy and other oppressive Arab regimes, angering the current regime.

Supporters of ElBaradei fear that the arrest of Ahmend Mahanna and the confiscation of the book were just the beginning of a crack down on the opposition.

The Guardian quoted the Twitter feed of Elbaradei, who condemned the arrest of Mahanna saying, “the detention of a publisher of a book about me and my ideas of reform shows a repressive regime afraid of its own shadow.”