CAIRO: Egypt's electoral commission said on Saturday it had received verification that the mother of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a leading Salafist presidential candidate, had US citizenship, a status that will likely disqualify him from the race. This, according is a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The high electoral committee received a letter from the Foreign Ministry informing it that Nawal Abdel-Aziz, mother of Hazem Abu Ismail, obtained American nationality on Oct. 25, 2006, a status which, will disqualify Abu Ismail from presidential race,” an official in the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs told Bikyamasr.com. The high commission would give a verdict on Abu Ismail's eligibility after the Sunday deadline for all presidential candidates to submit their applications to run. Abu Ismail supporters filled Tahrir Square yesterday, in the early afternoon, and in discontent and anger, threatening that their reaction to disqualifying their candidate will not appeal to the Egyptian government.
