Egyptian rights lawyer to run for President

Cairo Nov 7 (IANS) Egyptian rights lawyer Khaled Ali has announced that he will challenge President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in the 2018 elections a media report said.

"We decided today to start our campaign in preparation for my candidacy in the presidential elections " Xinhua news agency quoted Ali as saying at a press conference on Monday.

"We will strive to snatch guarantees for the integrity of the presidential elections."

The lawyer was in September sentenced to three months in jail due to a case related to a reportedly rude and obscene hand gesture he made after a court order which he has already appealed but it still raises a possibility for his disqualification as a presidential candidate.

Ali was among the leading figures who opposed Egypt s handover of the two controversial Red Sea islands of Tiran and Sanafir to Saudi Arabia earlier this year.

The rights lawyer ran for President in 2012 elections.

--IANS
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