Presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail's mother entered Egypt on an American passport in August 2009, according to a report allegedly delivered to Egypt's Presidential Elections Commission.
The Salafi-oriented candidate would be excluded from competing in the election if it is proven that his mother is or was American, even if she waived her citizenship, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The sources added that the report did not indicate if his mother carried a permanent or temporary passport. They explained that a temporary passport does not require US citizenship.
The report also said that Abu Ismail and fellow candidate Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh do not hold a second nationality, but that the former's brother and sister do.
In a statement on Abu Ismail's Facebook page on Sunday, he said his sister holds US citizenship because she is married to an American citizen and has been living there for 23 years. He denied that his mother is American.
"My mother has a green card but did not get US citizenship,” he wrote, adding that he would take legal action against any claims contrary to the truth.
Commission Secretary General Hatem Bagato said he has not received any official response from security services or the Foreign Ministry on the nationalities of the presidential candidates, said a judicial source within the commission. Also speaking on condition of anonymity, the source said the committee received informal information that Abu Ismail’s mother is American, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.
The source also said that if a candidate’s wife has a foreign nationality and she relinquishes it, then the candidate may run in the election. The candidate also can have other family members, such as brothers and sisters, with other nationalities.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
