Hazem Salah Abu Ismail Cairo – Akram Ali/ Mohammad Yusuf The Higher Committee for Presidential Elections claims it received a letter from the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, confirming that Salafist presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail’s late mother, Nawal Abdel Aziz, had US citizenship.
Abu Ismail denied this, accusing the US State Department of committing an explicit forgery, saying the reason behind America\'s motivation and speedy response within four days is very clear.
In a statement issued on Saturday evening, Abu Ismail said that he found it hard to believe that Egypt would send America a letter and America investigate and reply with such speed unless there is a US interest in the result of the presidential elections.
Meanwhile the High Committee for Presidential Elections in Egypt, has disclosed that it has received a candidacy bid from Nagah Mleigy Sheta, who is the first Coptic citizen to submit official candidacy papers to the High Committee.
A statement issued by the committee revealed that Sheta, who is a general manager in the National Mail Service Organisation, has completed the required documentation, after submitting the signatures of 30 parliamentary members in support of his bid.
Sheta said that his electoral programme is based on insuring that Egypt will be a modern civil state, and that Sharia (Islamic Law), will be the main source of legislation in the country, while non-Muslims should have the right to adopt their own religious traditions in dealing with their social issues.
Abu Ismail disclosed hat he appealed to the State Council and prepared a memorandum to be submitted to the Higher Committee for Presidential Elections on Sunday or rather Monday due to the Committee being preoccupied with submitting the nomination papers. It is worth mentioning that Abu Ismail has assigned a senior lawyer in America to collect information regarding his late mother\'s  status in the country. This information includes documents of her medical treatment in the last months of 2009, where a request to reduce her treatment costs was rejected because she was not American.
He also revealed that all this information is based on letters and correspondence from governmental executive bodies.  He also said it was not a secret that there had been an intention for some time to exclude him  from the presidential elections.
The Foreign Ministry sent two letters;  the first of which states that the woman in question acquired US citizenship on October 25, 2006, the committee said in a statement. The second letter included a copy of the filed request to obtain American nationality, the  Election Commission Secretary-General Hatem Bagato said.
The letter detailed that Abu Ismail provided a document on March 30 stating that neither he nor his parents had dual nationality, together with another document which states that his wife has Egyptian citizenship only.
The committee stated that the immigration department confirmed that Nawal Abdel Aziz, Abu Ismael\'s late mother,  had a US passport with the number 500611598 and that she used it several times while travelling to and from Egypt. The candidate’s deputy was informed of the content of the  Foreign Ministry’s letter who were unable to reach Abu Ismail on his cell phone.
Files will be examined on April 12-13 and any candidate not meeting the requirements will be informed, the commission said.
Those rejected will then have 48 hours to appeal before the final list of candidates is announced on April 26.
Abu Ismail has repeatedly denied that his mother holds US nationality and thousands of his supporters demonstrated in Cairo on April 6 demanding he be allowed to run.
In a press conference inside a mosque Saturday evening, presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail attempted to remain in the presidential race, denying official statements that said his mother had US citizenship, saying the evidence was “an American forgery.”
“There is a clear American intent to exert influence on the office of the president,” Abu Ismail said to a crowd of supporters at the Assad ibn Furat mosque. “It is unacceptable that the fate of the Egyptian president should be dependent on instructions from America or Israel.”
But Abu Ismail admitted there was a possibility his mother might have at one point applied for citizenship.
“She may have presented an application for citizenship, but it did not happen,” he said.
On Friday, thousands of Abu Ismail supporters protested in Tahrir Square against what they said was a plot to prevent him from running in the elections.
\"The people want Hazem Abu Ismail! No to manipulation!\" the demonstrators shouted after making their way through central Cairo to Tahrir Square.
Abu Ismail advocates for the establishment of an Islamist state under the jurisdiction of Sharia law. Supporters say they back Abu Ismail because they believe he will cleanse the country of corrupt officials who squandered the country’s wealth.
Sheta, the first Coptic candidate,  also revealed that he will work on diversifying the Egyptian army, along with pushing construction activity in the Sinai, as well as adopting the Egyptian pound as the official currency in the Suez Canal. In addition, Sheta said that he would work to ensure a minimum unemployment assistance of 1000 EGP ($165 USD), and would form appoint an advisory council consisting of several national experts.