Amr Moussa early favorite in Egypt

CAIRO, May 7 (UPI) -- Former Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and independent Abdeul Moneim Abul Fotouh are leading presidential candidates in Egypt, poll data indicate.

Egyptians head to the voting booth later this month for the first election since a popular uprising in early 2011 forced longtime President Hosni Mubarak from power.

A face-to-face poll of 1,200 likely voters, conducted by Egyptian news service al-Ahram early last week, found Moussa and Fotouh, a former Muslim Brotherhood member, were the leading candidates for this month's election.

The poll data indicate that Moussa was backed by 39 percent of those taking part in the survey, while Fotouh was favored by 24 percent of the respondents.

Al-Ahram found that nearly all of the Egyptians it interviewed said they would likely vote in the election, though 40 percent said they still didn't have a favored candidate.

There are 13 candidates campaigning for president in Egypt. Elections take place May 23-24.

Al-Ahram didn't provide the statistical margin of error for its poll. Some governorates were excluded from the poll because they represent less than 2 percent of the Egyptian population.