Liberal politician Ayman Nour has announced that all activities of his Ghad El-Thawra Party will be frozen and its members subsumed within the recently launched Egyptian Conference.

The Egyptian Conference, launched 18 September, is headed by former secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa and formed of 25 currents and movements representing liberals, leftists and remnants of the Mubarak regime.

Nour, who is also deputy secretary-general of the Constituent Assembly, stated during a meeting with his party members in Alexandria on Friday that the headquarters of Ghad El-Thawra Party would be used by the Egyptian Conference, in addition to replacing his party's posters and banners.

"The first initiatives by the party — the Egyptian Conference — will start on 9 November until 13 November, also to celebrate the national holiday of the British withdrawal from Egypt," said Nour.

Nour added that prominent African leader Nelson Mandela may be present during the inaugural ceremony.

The liberal politician pointed out that the Egyptian Conference initiative is not against the Muslim Brotherhood or Salafists, adding that "a good relation ties the (new) party with both groups; however, competition in the next elections is possible."

"The Egyptian Conference is for all Egyptians. I personally refuse to label some as feloul — remnants of former regime. There can't be such a discriminatory tactic between citizens," said Nour, who added that the Egyptian Conference may take members of the now-defunct National Democratic Party if proven to be "honourable."

A number of coalitions are now being formed in the Egyptian political arena, some to counterbalance the hegemony of Islamist parties on political life in Egypt. New non-Islamist parties include Mohamed ElBaradei's Constitution Party, the Revolutionary Democratic Coalition, an alliance formed of various leftist groups, and Nasserist Hamdeen Sabbahi's Popular Current.