Thousands of Islamists demonstrated in Cairo Friday to block the staff of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from running in May's presidential election. A law to enact such a ban was passed by parliament Thursday and awaits military approval.
Egypt's parliament has passed a law banning top level officials from the Hosni Mubarak era from running for president, including ex-vice president Omar Suleiman, who announced his intention to run last week.
A heated race begins as Egypt heads into its first free presidential election. Egyptian presidential hopefuls have filed their candidacies, including Mubarak ally Omar Suleiman. The May 23 election is shaping up to be a battle between military-backed political heavyweights and Islamists. While the Muslim Brotherhood secured the most representation in recent parliamentary elections, analysts say Egyptians may be unwilling to see them monopolize power in the country.
Egypt's former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, a candidate in late May's presidential vote, on Monday slammed the Muslim Brotherhood for its "monopolistic ways". The Brotherhood dominates parliament and the assembly drafting a new constitution.
Egypt’s moderate Islamist Muslim Brotherhood on Saturday named deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater as its candidate in the country’s presidential elections in late May. The vote will be the first since former leader Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last year.
Egyptian Copts were on Sunday paying their last respects to their spiritual leader Pope Shenuda III, who died at the weekend aged 88. The pope's body will remain on display in Cairo's St Mark's Cathedral until his burial on Tuesday.
The spiritual leader of Egypt's largest Christian minority, Coptic Pope Shenuda III, died on Saturday aged 88. Shenuda assumed the role in 1971, representing the country's estimated eight million Copts for over four decades.
Egypt will choose its first new president in more than three decades in a vote slated for May 23-24, more than a year after a popular uprising ousted former president Hosni Mubarak, the elections committee announced on Wednesday.
The judicial committee overseeing Egypt’s first presidential election since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster last year said it had postponed plans to schedule a final vote date on Sunday, although a committee member said it would be in the first week of June.
Egyptian activists are planning a "day of disobedience" Saturday to mark the one-year anniversary of Hosni Mubarak's ouster. The increasingly unpopular military said it would deploy additional troops to respond to scheduled strikes and protests.
