Egypt candidates barred from poll

14 April 2012 Last updated at 19:25 GMT

Khairat al-ShaterMuslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat al-Shater had been expected to do well at the polls

Egyptian election officials have barred 10 candidates from the presidential poll, including former spy chief Omar Suleiman and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Khairat al-Shater.

Ultra orthodox Salafi Hazem Salah Abu Ismail has also been banned.

No reason was given by officials, who said the banned candidates had 48 hours to appeal. Thirteen candidates remain.

Elections are due to be held in May, more than a year after Hosni Mubarak was overthrown by popular protests.

Egypt is still governed by a military council, although parliamentary elections have taken place in the meantime. The Brotherhood-backed Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) became the largest party in parliament.

The decision by Mr Suleiman to stand for the presidency sparked major protests in Cairo on Friday.

The news that he and nine other candidates were being excluded was announced by Farouk Sultan, the head of the Supreme Presidential Election Commission. Officials said the 10 did not meet the conditions for candidacy, but did not formally give details.

An official quoted by AFP news agency said that Mr Suleiman had failed to get endorsements from the 15 provinces required, that Mr Shater had been in prison too recently to stand, and that Hazem Abu Ismail had a mother of a different nationality.