Excluded presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail told Al-Masry Al-Youm Tuesday that he will continue filing lawsuits even after the end of the current presidential poll in order to ensure his eligibility for the next contest.
“My mother was never an American and what happened is a scheme from the West against me to abort the Islamic project. I will obtain my rights, and I will reach the presidential palace,” said Abu Ismail.
“Most Salafi sheikhs take their orders from sovereign bodies. In the beginning, their support was clear to me, but after the details of the conspiracy showed and the military council's desire against my nomination appeared, they started their statements against me to drive my supporters away from me.”
“I could never imagine that events [in Abbasseya] would reach this [point]. The blood spilt is not on my hands, but on the hands of the military council and stains them,” he said.
“The military council must be brought to account on the crimes it committed,” he said, adding that he did not visit the sit-in outside the Defense Ministry because of a leg injury.
Abu Ismail confessed that his sister has American citizenship, denying that she has anything to do with his problem.
“Why would my sister appear in the media? I am the one concerned with these details, and I know if my mother obtained American citizenship or not. If you do not believe me, believe the judicial decree that confirmed that the Interior Ministry does not have any official documents that confirm that my mother is American.”
Abu Ismail is still pondering who to support for president.
“I am deciding between Mohamed Morsy and Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh, because both of them have some of the features of my Islamic project, while other candidates are liberals and do not call for the application of Sharia law. Others are related to the ousted regime and are not fit for the presidency. I hoped I could compete with them, but I welcome the competition during future elections.”
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
