Egypt presidential hopeful returns, whereabouts unclear
There was no official word as of Sunday evening on the whereabouts of an Egyptian presidential hopeful who flew home from the United Arab Emirates less than 48 hours ago.
Ahmed Shafiq, a career air force officer who served as the last prime minister under ousted ruler
Hosni Mubarak, flew to Cairo from the Emirates Saturday night, ending more than five years of exile in the Gulf Arab nation.
UAE authorities arrested and deported him to Cairo Saturday after he claimed that authorities there banned him from returning to Egypt to contest next year’s presidential election. The UAE denied this and accused him of ingratitude after it has given him a home since 2012.
Last week, Shafiq announced from the UAE that he would return to Egypt to run for president. He ran in Egypt’s first free elections in 2012 and lost by a narrow margin to the Islamist Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood before fleeing the country to escape a litany of criminal charges that could have landed him in prison. He has since been found innocent of all corruption allegations, clearing the way for his return home.
Airport officials said he was escorted out of Cairo airport by unidentified security personnel. Family members and supporters who had been waiting to greet him upon arrival did not see him, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
There has been no official word on Shafiq’s whereabouts by Sunday evening, prompting speculation on whether he has been detained by security or intelligence agencies or was being kept at a suburban Cairo hotel. Repeated attempts by The Associated Press to contact his lawyers failed.