CAIRO (AP) - The Latest on events related to Egypt’s elections (all times local):
4:25 p.m.
A senior worker at the campaign of Egyptian presidential hopeful Khaled Ali says they are holding an emergency meeting to assess their position following the arrest of another hopeful, former military chief of staff Sami Annan.
Khaled Abdel-Hameed tells The Associated Press that the campaign’s meeting later Tuesday would look at “all options,” including quitting the race.
Egypt’s military earlier Tuesday arrested Annan who was planning to run in the March 26-28 elections against President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, in what appeared to be a calculated move to push him out of the race.
With his bid to run now all but dead, Annan becomes the latest in a string of potential competitors to el-Sissi who have dropped out or have been driven out.
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3:25 p.m.
A statement by the campaign of former military chief of staff and presidential hopeful Sami Annan says it is suspending its activity indefinitely following a statement by the armed forces listing an array of serious allegations against him.
Annan was also arrested by the military Tuesday, but his campaign made no mention of that.
The statement, posted on the campaign’s official Facebook page, says the suspension was decided “out of fear for the safety and security of all citizens who dream of change.”
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2:05 p.m.
A top aide to Egypt presidential hopeful Sami Annan tells the AP the former chief of staff has been arrested by the military.
Egypt’s military announced earlier Tuesday it will investigate Annan for allegedly forging documents and breaching army regulations.
In a statement by the armed forces posted on social media, the military also accused Annan of “openly inciting” against the military and seeking to drive a wedge between it and the public.
It says Annan also failed to seek clearance from the military before declaring his intention to run in the March 27-28 elections.
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1:35 p.m.
Egypt’s military says it will investigate former chief of staff and presidential hopeful Sami Annan for allegedly forging documents and breaching army regulations.
In a statement by the armed forces posted on social media on Tuesday, the military also accused Annan of “openly inciting” against the military and seeking to drive a wedge between it and the public.
It says Annan also failed to seek clearance from the military before declaring his intention to run in the March 27-28 elections.
The statement has effectively ended Annan’s campaign to win the presidency, something he only had an outside chance to do.
Annan was chief of staff until 2012, when ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi removed him along with his boss at the time, former defense minister Mohammed Tantawi.
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11:15 a.m.
A senior Muslim Brotherhood leader has written an open letter from exile to a retired Egyptian army general seeking to run for president, listing the outlawed group’s conditions for supporting his candidacy.
Youssef Nada’s letter was posted on his Facebook account on Monday.
The letter has provided media loyal to President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi with ammunition to link the would-be candidate, former chief of staff Sami Annan, to the banned Brotherhood. Authorities accuse the group of taking up arms against the government.
El-Sissi led the military’s 2013 ouster of former president Mohammed Morsi, an Islamist and Brotherhood stalwart. Under el-Sissi, links to the Brotherhood are grounds for prosecution.
Nada cited the demand to free Morsi, in jail since 2013, as one of the Brotherhood’s conditions for supporting Annan.
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