Moussa leads in formal poll of Egyptians

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NEW YORK, June 22 (UPI) -- Former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa is the front-runner in the Egyptian presidential race, a survey indicated.

Egyptians head to the polls in November to pick their next president, nine months after widespread demonstrations forced Hosni Mubarak to step down after three decades in office.

A survey conducted by Charney Research for the International Peace Institute indicated that 32 percent of the 800 respondents favored Moussa in the presidential election. Despite winning in an informal Internet poll, Egyptian diplomat Mohammed ElBaradei was backed by just 2 percent of those taking part in the IPI survey.

In parliamentary elections set for September, the two oldest parties -- Wafd and the Muslim Brotherhood, conducting political affairs through its newly recognized Freedom and Justice Party -- were viewed favorably in the IPI survey. Forty percent of those interviewed said they viewed Wafd favorably while the Muslim Brotherhood was lauded by 31 percent of the participants.

The results of the IPI indicated, however, that as new parties emerge, older parties lose some dominance.

The Egyptian army, which took government after Mubarak's ouster, remained popular with 94 percent of respondents expressing support.

The poll of 800 adults was conducted in face-to-face interviews from May 30-June 4. The data have a margin of error of 4 percentage points.