CAIRO - Mourtada Mansour, a controversial ex-judge, announced in Cairo Sunday that the he would stand in the presidential elections later this year. Mansour, who is known for his sharp tongue, told a press conference that he had an integrated programme that would help Egypt "restore the proper status it deserves among the nations". "Within the next few days I will declare my programme that gives me a chance in the presidential bid, " Mansour said, adding that he had decided to nominate himself to put the country on the right track. Mansour, a former boss of the Cairo based Zamalek Club, strongly denied allegations that he had been behind that violent clashes that broke out on February 2 between young protesters and Mubarak supporters that left dozens of revolutionaries dead and hundreds wounded. Mansour has been released from preventive dention earlier this week after 15 days in jail on suspicion of involvement in violence against protesters. He said that he had decided to run as an independent candidate after the former interim prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, had not made up his mind yet to join the presidential race in November. Shafiq, a close associate of Mubarak, had been minister of civil aviation since 2002 and was credited with building a new terminal at Cairo Airport and upgrading Egyptian airports services and infrastructure.
