Presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail called reports that his mother is American a plot against him.
"There has been a well-orchestrated plan in play for a long time," said Abu Ismail in a statement on Facebook. "Many bodies used forces inside and outside the country to subdue my presidential campaign."
Abu Ismail said he undertook all relevant procedures with the Interior and Foreign Ministries, the Passports, Immigration and Nationalities Administration Authority and the Presidential Elections Commission.
He asked his supporters to pray for him to turn the crisis into a victory.
The Presidential Elections Commission said on Thursday that it received an official letter from the Interior Ministry’s Immigration and Naturalization Department confirming that Nawal Abdel Aziz Nour, the mother of presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, entered Egypt on a US passport in the last five months before her death.
The commission’s chairman, Farouk Sultan, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the commission will, however, await a response from the Foreign Ministry which, he said, has the final word on determining Nour's nationality.
According to Egyptian law, candidates running for president cannot descend from parents who hold citizenship that is not Egyptian.
The letter specifically mentioned that Nour used the US passport several times traveling to and from the United States, and to Germany in 2008 and 2009.
On Wednesday, Abu Ismail filed a lawsuit against the chairman of the Presidential Elections Commission and the interior minister, demanding that they prove their claim that his mother carried US citizenship. He said in earlier statements that his late mother only received a US green card, and not the nationality, and voiced concerns of possible plots to push him out of the race.
Abu Ismail’s supporters called for a million-man demonstration on Friday. “We are sure his mother did not have a dual nationality,” said Gamal Saber, one supporter. “And the Ahly and Zamalek ultras will join us.”
Saber said the authorities need to prove that claim by presenting a video showing Abu Ismail’s mother taking the oath while she was granted US citizenship, as well as submit citizenship documents with her fingerprints.
Adel Afify, president of the Salafi Nour Party, also said there has been a conspiracy against Abu Ismail from day one when he announced his candidacy.
Diplomatic sources had told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the elections commission is investigating the nationalities of other runners, including Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, Amr Moussa, Hossam Khairallah, Abul Ezz al-Hariry, Mohamed Fawzy, candidate of the Democratic Generation Party, and Ahmed Awad al-Saeedy, the candidate of the Egypt National Party.
Mohamed Selim al-Awa, another runner, had denied rumors that one of his parents had Syrian citizenship.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
