Muslim Brotherhood refuses to accept ban

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CAIRO – The Muslim Brotherhood said Sunday that it will fight the
banning of its candidate forpresident that has thrown Egypt's move
toward elected civilian rule into disarray and threatens a return to
massive street protests.
"We do not accept it. We will challenge it," said Gehad El-Haddad, a
member of the steering committee for the Renaissance Project, which is
at the heart of the Muslim Brotherhood's presidential campaign.
Ten presidential candidateswere barred from contesting the nation's
top job in a decision announced Saturday by thepresidential election
commission, five weeks before the presidential raceis set to begin in
May.
The decision comes at the tail end of a week marred by a slew of
shocks and shifts — from a candidate jumble to a march on Tahrir
Square — that persisted in shaking the pre-election period.
"There is a continuously increasing state of confusion," Egyptian
writerand blogger Bassem Sabry said.
Among the 10 deemed ineligible to run, three were front-runners in the
race for Egypt's presidency.
They are former head of intelligence Omar Suleiman , Muslim
Brotherhood nominee Khairat al-Shater and Hazem Salah Abu Ismail , a
lawyer who supports an Islamic state such as Iran's. All three are
appealing the decisions.
Disqualified by conviction
The Brotherhood's lawyer, Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maksoud, said Sunday that
the exclusion does not comply with applicable laws. Shater was
disqualified because of a previous criminal conviction. The group is
continuing with Shater's campaign until the electionjudge issues a
final verdict.
"At the moment, our position is that this is the continuation of the
policiesof (ousted president Hosni) Mubarak," Haddad said, adding that
his organization believes the decision is primarily targeted at Shater
and Abu Ismail who are "strong Islamic candidates."
Abu Ismail, who has seen a surge of support, has denounced American
influence and demanded an end to Egypt's peace treaty with Israel.
He was barred from the race because his mother is a U.S. citizen.
(Egyptians holding foreign passports or born to foreign parents are
disqualified.) He has sued, demanding proof of the claim from the
Interior Ministry.
"I'm guessing the Abu Ismail supporters are goingto respond in a very
exaggerated manner," Sabry said about the candidate's backers,
knownhere as Hazemoon . "I thinkit will be manageable if Suleiman
stays out of the race, … but if he is the only one allowed back in,
then it will spark extreme national unrest."
Anticipating the possibility that Shater might be disqualified, the
Muslim Brotherhood dashed last week to field the head of the
Brotherhood's Freedomand Justice Party , Mohammed Morsi, as a backup
to Shater. / :-: Translator :-:
http://translate.google.co.in/m?hl=en&twu=1/
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