Egypt's military ruler Hussein Tantawi Wednesday pardoned leading opposition politician Ayman Nour, reported state television, a move that will allow him to run for president, dpa reported.
Nour had trailed second to Hosni Mubarak in Egypt's 2005 presidential election. Months later, a court sentenced him to five years in prison on charges of forging documents required to register his political party Al Ghad (Tomorrow).
Nour has said that the case had been politically motivated.
Under Egyptian law, people convicted on such charges are stripped of the rights to vote or contest elections for six years.
Tantawi's pardon gives Nour back his full political rights, including the right to run in elections, according to the report.
"This decision is a positive result of the January 25 revolution," Nour told the semi-official newspaper Al Ahram, referring to a popular revolt that toppled Mubarak in February last year.