'Barred' Egyptian presidential candidate says military rulers have no intention of ceding power

Cairo, Apr 19 (ANI): The Muslim Brotherhood's disqualified presidential candidate, Khairat el-Shater, has said Egypt's ruling military council has no intention of ceding real power to civilians.

Shater, who along with ex-spy chief Omar Suleiman and ultraconservative Salafist Hazem Abu Ismail, were barred from taking part in next month's elections, claimed military rulers are manipulating the law to guide the outcome of the voting in their favor and control the writing of the nation's new constitution.

"The military council, in my opinion, is not serious about the handover of power, but is looking for a figure that it can control from behind the curtains," The Washington Post quoted Shater, as saying.

He said the Muslim Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, would turn out in Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday to defend the revolution, adding, 'this Friday is the real handover of power.'

Shater warned that his elimination from the race was a sign of fraud, and he called the process that led to it a "crime against the Egyptian people."

He accused the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces of trying to fix the election by eliminating strong Islamist candidates.

Shater called the electoral commission, which is made up of Mubarak-era judges, a "gang."

He, however, said that the election should be held on time and urged Egyptians to support the Brotherhood's backup candidate, Mohammed Morsi. (ANI)