CAIRO: Around 100 demonstrators gathered in front of the Arab League building in downtown Cairo Wednesday afternoon to protest the nomination of Mostafa El-Fiqqi to succeed Amr Moussa as the head of the Arab League. Present at the demonstration was a contingent from Damanhour, the area which El-Fiqqi represented as MP from 2005-2010, who chanted against El-Fiqqi accusing him of corruption, bribery and forgery in the run-up to the election. Others held posters which stated that El-Fiqqi should not be Egypt's nominee for the post due to his close ties to the former regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak and his membership in the National Democratic Party. Ahmed Ali, a film editor, told Daily News Egypt, "El-Fiqqi is one of the remnants of the regime and was a close advisor of Hosni Mubarak. I was never into politics before Jan. 25, but now when I see something wrong I want to change it." Hagar Mansour said, "I'm here to say no to the nomination of Mostafa El-Fiqqi, he is not an honorable representation for Egypt." "He won the parliamentary elections in Damanhour through forgery and said the next president of Egypt must be approved by the US and Israel," she added. And while Ali and Mansour both stated their preference that the next head of the Arab League be Egyptian, Khaled Ramadan, 21, from Sohag, said, "It doesn't matter where they're from, they must be the best suited for the job. But not Mostafa El-Fiqqi, he is not suitable and is from the remnants of the NDP." Moussa is due to step down from his post and has stated his intention to run for president of Egypt. Egypt had nominated El-Fiqqi in his stead, but there has been opposition to the nomination due to his past involvement with the regime.
