Protesters return to Tahrir Square as row over elections mounts

More than 10,000 Egyptians protested in Cairo’s Tahrir Square in a show of strength by Islamists yesterday, demanding the country’s ruling generals bar Hosni Mubarak’s former spy chief and other ousted regime officials from running in next month’s presidential elections.

The rally was the first major demonstration in months and was a change of heart for Islamists, who had abandoned street protests and pursued a strategy of co-existence with the military, even during violent army crackdowns on pro-democracy activists.

The struggle for power has heated up with the approach of next month’s presidential vote, in which Islamists see their chance to capture the country’s most senior post.

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In response, one of the most powerful members of Mubarak’s inner circle – former intelligence chief and vice-president Omar Suleiman – has entered the race, saying he wants to prevent Islamist rule.

“If Omar Suleiman became a president, it will turn to a pool of blood, and people will stay in the square for ten years,” said protester Ahmed Murad in front of banners depicting Suleiman as the candidate of the “Zionists”.

Mr Suleiman was Mubarak’s point man on ties with Israel and many see him as symbolic of a friendly Mubarak-era relationship with the Jewish state.

The crowd in Tahrir Square yesterday was overwhelmingly Islamist.

“We didn’t oust Mubarak to get another one,” another protester, Adel Suleiman, said while a crowd nearby carried a black coffin on which protesters wrote, “the people want to oust the remnants,” referring to former regime figures.

Chants of “the people want to bring down the field marshal” rang across the square, referring to the head of the ruling military council, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

Many held banners with pictures of Mr Suleiman and another Mubarak-era presidential candidate, Ahmed Shafiq, with their faces crossed out.

On Thursday, the Islamist-dominated parliament passed a new bill stripping senior Mubarak regime figures from the right to run for office for the next ten years. The ruling military council must ratify the bill before it can come into effect.

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In response to allegations that Mr Suleiman’s run is backed by the military, Field Marshal Tantawi reportedly stressed that the ruling military council “has no prejudices and doesn’t side by any party”.