The Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate for the Egyptian presidency has registered for the election set for late May. Khairat al-Shater, who announced he was running for the presidency less than a week ago, presented his papers to the electoral commission on Thursday. The party had previously said it would not field a candidate in the vote. Meanwhile, doubts were cast over the eligibility of Salafist contender Hazem Abu Ismail, after electoral officials said his mother was a US citizen. The ruling is likely to bar Mr Abu Ismail from the race, since a law made last year stipulates that a candidate, or his parents, may not have citizenship of any country other than Egypt.
The polls will determine who will succeed former President Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed after a popular uprising last year. The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces that currently runs Egypt is due to hand over power in June.
Mr Shater, a successful businessman, is a senior Brotherhood member and its chief financier. He was jailed several times during the rule of Hosni Mubarak.
Full Article: BBC News – Egypt Brotherhood candidate registers for presidency.