CAIRO, April 15 (UPI) -- Egypt's Presidential Elections Commission disqualified 10 candidates, stirring speculation the military leadership is attempting to undermine the revolution.
Three front-runners were excluded Saturday one month before elections are to take place: Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat al-Shater, former intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and Islamist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Mourad Mohamed Ali, the head of al-Shater's presidential campaign, speculated the decision was made by Egypt's interim military rulers and is an attempt to undermine the country's revolution and revive the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, the newspaper said.
"This is a purely political decision," Ali said.
The elections commission said al-Shater was disqualified for his conviction and seven-year prison sentence for money-laundering and terrorism charges, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday. Ismail was excluded because the commission determined his mother switched to U.S. citizenship before her death, and Suleiman was kicked out of the race because he lacked enough signatures to register for candidacy, the Times said.
The 10 candidates will have a chance to appeal the rulings.
