Rashad el-Bayoumi, who runs the Muslim Brotherhood's Student Section, is expected to be announced as the official Supreme Guide to succeed Mahdi Akef whose term ends in days, sources in the MB told Al-Masry Al-Youm. The MB sources said the Guidance Bureau and the MB Shura Council had settled on el-Bayoumi after the First Deputy Supreme Guide Dr. Mohamed Habib officially resigned from all his MB positions and announced he wasn't nominating himself for the position of Supreme Guide. The sources said the only obstacle is that el-Bayoumi himself rejects the position. Leaders from the MB are, however, working on persuading him, the sources added. Early indicators during the election pointed out that Mohamed Badie, a senior member of the Guidance Bureau, was in a better position to win the leadership, but el-Bayoumi, 74, obtained the majority of votes. The sources also said that Mahmoud Ezzat, MB secretary general, had told the Guidance Bureau and the MB Shura Council he wasn't nominating himself for the position of Supreme Guide--which helped secure quite an easy win for el-Bayoumi who's a popular figure in the group known for his efforts in calling people to Islam. For the first time in its history the MB will be holding a welcome ceremony for the new Supreme Guide and honoring its outgoing one, the sources said. Public figures from outside the MB are expected to be invited. MB sources denied that the Second Deputy Supreme Guide Khairat el-Shater, who is currently in prison, had interfered in any way in either the Guidance Bureau or Supreme Guide elections. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
