Egyptian Protesters Rally To Keep Islamist In Race

Last updated on: April 6, 2012 at 3:13 pm by

Egyptian Protesters Rally To Keep Islamist In Race 2012-04-06T15:13:01-07:00

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CAIRO (AP) — Thousands rallied in Cairo on Friday in support of an ultraconservative Islamist presidential hopeful who may be disqualified from the race after it was announced that his mother was an American citizen.

The protesters carried photos and campaign posters of Hazem Abu Ismail, a 50-year-old lawyer-turned-preacher who in recent months vaulted to become one of the strongest contenders for president, with widespread backing from ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafis.

The showdown between Abu Ismail’s supporters and the government has shaken-up a race that includes former regime officials and Islamists competing against one another in the first presidential election since last year’s ouster or Hosni Mubarak. The balloting is slated for the end of May.

Abu Ismail’s face— smiling, with a long, conservative beard — has become ubiquitous in Cairo and other cities because of a startlingly aggressive postering campaign that plastered walls and lampposts with his picture.

Egypt’s election commission, which announced Thursday that Abu Ismail’s mother was a U.S. citizen, did not outright disqualify him because it has yet to start vetting would-be candidates’ applications. A law put in place after Mubarak’s fall stipulates that a candidate may not have any other citizenship than Egyptian — and that the candidate’s spouse and parents cannot have other citizenships as well.

As his disqualification looked increasingly likely, Abu Ismail said Thursday he faces an “elaborate plot” against him and insisted his mother only had a Green Card to visit her daughter, who is married to an American and lives in the United States.

The announcement about his mother is particularly embarrassing for Abu Ismail, who has used anti-U.S. rhetoric in his campaign speeches and says he rejects “dependency” on America.

His campaign team claims the country’s military rulers, who took over after Mubarak’s ouster, are looking for ways to disqualify him as a candidate. As his supporters began marching after Friday prayers down a main Cairo street toward the central Tahrir Square, his campaign chief, Gamal Saber, said the ruling military council is “lying about the sheik.”

“We have proof that his mother is not American,” Saber said, adding that their supporters are prepared “to die in Tahrir Square” to fight the “fraud”.

A follower of the ultra-conservative Salafi trend of Islam, Abu Ismail has been among the front-runners in the race. If he is disqualified, it opens the door for Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat el-Shater to win a greater number of Islamist votes. Another Islamist in the race is Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, a reform minded physician who was expelled from the Brotherhood last year and is trying to appeal both to religious and more secular-minded Egyptians.

An election win by an Islamist candidate would mirror Egypt’s recent parliamentary elections, where the Brotherhood won nearly half of the seats in parliament and the Salafi Al-Nour party came in second, with a quarter of the seats.

Abu Ismail’s supporters say he will cleanse the country of corrupt officials by enforcing a strict application of Islamic law.

A preacher speaking to the crowd at Tahrir Square on Friday said the attacks against Abu Ismail amounted to attacks against God’s rule. “It is a case of war against the religion, against Islamic law,” said the preacher, who was not identified.

Gamaa Islamiya, a former militant group that is now part of the ultraconservative Salafi Al-Nour bloc, helped organize buses that brought thousands from around the country to Friday’s rally.

Physician Khaled el-Said, a member of Gamaa Islamiya, said he traveled from the Nile delta city of Mansoura for the rally in Cairo.

“I’m here to support Sheik Hazem against the games being played, “he said.

The only disturbance in the area Friday occurred when Abu Ismail supporters, chanting “The Quran is our constitution,” forced a few dozen people off a separate stage in Tahrir Square. The other protesters were denouncing the Islamists’ domination of a panel meant to draft Egypt’s new constitution and demanding that a more diverse body be selected for the task.

Rallies in support of Abu Ismail also took place Friday in several other Egyptian provinces.

Even liberal presidential hopeful, Ayman Nour, spoke out in his defense on Friday. Nour served four years in prison under Mubarak in a case he says was politically motivated when he ran against the former leader in the 2005 elections. On Friday, Nour and a lesser known hopeful, Hamdeen Sabahi, submitted their applications for the presidential race.

“We believe what is happening to Sheik Abu Ismail is disgraceful. We hope that the elections are free, beginning with freedom for anyone to qualify,” Nour said.

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