Shafiq campaign claims victory in elections
Mubarak's ex-PM claims 1.5-point lead in presidential vote while rally brews in Tahrir Square
A campaign spokesman for Hosni Mubarak's ex-prime minister says Ahmed Shafiq has won the Egyptian presidential election, countering the Muslim Brotherhood's claims that its candidate was the winner.
Ahmed Sarhan has told a televised news conference that Shafiq won 51.5% of the vote. He said the claim of victory by Shafiq's rival Mohammed Morsi was "false."
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"Gen. Ahmed Shafiq is the next president of Egypt," said Sarhan, adding that the candidate won some 500,000 votes more than Morsi, of the fundamentalist Brotherhood.
The official result of the two-day, weekend vote will be announced on Thursday.
The Muslim Brotherhood, meanwhile, continued to stake its claim to the presidency. The movement offered a detailed national count giving Morsi comfortable win by 52% to 48% over Shafiq.
Mohammed Morsi (Photo: AFP)
In an interview published by the Saudi-based Ashraq newspaper on Tuesday, Morsi addressed the possibility of a conflict between Egypt and Israel.
The Islamist candidate said that his first priority is "to rebuild the country from the inside while honoring all international agreements."
He qualified the statement by expressing confidence that the Egyptian army "can confront any enemy that threatens our borders."
Morsi said in the past that he won't annul the peace treaty with the Jewish state, but the Brotherhood declared it would reexamine the agreement.
Anti-army rally
The Shafiq campaign's announcement was made while protesters streamed into Cairo's Tahrir Square ahead of a rally against moves to curb the powers of the president by generals whose Western allies share unease over political Islam but accuse the army of abusing hopes for democracy.
The young urban activists who launched the uprising against Mubarak in January last year, already disappointed the election came down to an all too familiar choice between army and Islam, called for a demonstration to protest at the military legal maneuvers of the past week.
The Brotherhood is also busing in supporters to the square. The movement declared on Tuesday it did not want a confrontation with the ruling generals but said the army did not have the right to curb presidential powers.
The ruling army council, which took control when former military man Mubarak was driven from office, issued an 11th hour decree assuming legislative powers until a new parliament is elected and keeping control of army affairs.
Roi Kais, AP and Reuters contributed to the report
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