Moussa leads in Egypt's presidential race

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CAIRO, April 10 (UPI) -- Former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa holds the lead in Egypt's upcoming presidential election, a poll suggests.

The first round of elections to replace the deposed Hosni Mubarak will be held next month. The country has been ruled by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces since Mubarak was overthrown last year.

The poll results released by al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies said Moussa is in the lead with 30.7 percent, down 1.2 percent from last month. Salafist Abu-Ismail is a close second with 28.8 percent, up from 22.7 percent the previous month, Ahram Online reported Tuesday.

Former Muslim Brotherhood member Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh came in third with 8.5 percent. Former vice president and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman came next with 8.2 percent, down from 9.3 percent last month.

Ahram Online said the poll was conducted March 31-April 3, before accusations Abu-Ismail's late mother held American citizenship went public. Suleiman had also not yet declared his official candidacy.

The poll results suggest 32 percent of Abu-Ismail's supporters would turn to Abul-Fotouh and 29.3 percent would vote for Moussa if Abu-Ismail is disqualified from the race.

The findings are based on a national sample of 1,200 citizens.