Ex-spy to run for president in Egypt

The former spy chief under Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak said he decided to run for president to prevent Islamists from turning Egypt into a “religious state.” Omar Suleiman’s comments in a newspaper interview came hours before the Islamist-dominated parliament passed a bill that would strip senior Mubarak regime figures of their political rights for 10 years. The law will come into effect if the military council that took over from Mubarak 14 months ago ratifies it.

The election for the first president since Mubarak was ousted is shaping into a showdown between Suleiman and Islamists led by the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood, whose deputy leader, Khairat el-shater, is running. The Brotherhood and other Islamists plan a large protest today against Suleiman’s candidacy.