EGYPT’S military has arrested former military chief of staff and presidential hopeful Sami Anan, levelling an array of serious allegations against him.
The move appears to be a calculated move by the armed forces and the incumbent to push him out of the race.
With his bid to win the presidency now all but dead, Anan becomes the latest presidential hopeful to be driven out of the race in an election virtually certain to be won by another graduate of Egypt’s powerful military establishment, President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
A security official with first-hand knowledge of the Anan affair said the ex-general was arrested by the military simultaneously with the release to the official media of an armed forces’ statement listing the allegations facing him.
The statement said Anan would be questioned on charges of forging documents relevant to the formal end of his active service, breaching army regulations by declaring his intention to run without first clearing it with the military and inciting against the armed forces.
With Anan – who only had an outside chance of winning – out of the race and facing a court martial, only one serious presidential hopeful is left in the field.
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