CAIRO - Thousands of Egyptian contenders for the November parliamentary elections were Sunday drumming up support from potential voters. Taking advantage of the large numbers gathered for prayers marking the first day of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, parliament hopefuls distributed leaflets promoting themselves. Their supporters handed out balloons and toys to children accompanying their parents to the festivities. Egypt goes to the polls on November 28. The three-round election will be the country's first since a popular revolt unseated president Hosny Mubarak in February. Sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood, the influential opposition party, on Sunday appeared outside a major mosque in the fashionable Cairo quarter of al-Mohandessin calling on worshippers to vote for its contenders. 'Beware of election bribes,' one of the supporters announced. Past elections have been marred by vote buying and promises of jobs. Candidates from the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups are to run in November for the first time after many years of a government ban. More than 11,000 Egyptians are to contest the elections, according to official figures. On the festival of sacrifice, candidates of different political leanings were out on the streets wishing people 'a happy Eid al-Adha.' Earlier, they sent voters greetings via text messages. The wealthier campaigners opted to impress voters in poorer areas by offering them free meat. Some sponsored raffle draws after prayers. In Cairo's Tahrir Square, the focal point of the anti-Mubarak protests, dozens of activists demanded that the military rulers stop military trials for civilians. 'We want it (to be) an Islamic state,' chanted some worshippers in the square as a preacher called for national unity. State television showed footage of the head of the ruling military council, Hussein Tantawi, and interim prime minister Essam Saharaf offering prayers in an army mosque in Cairo.
