Egypt's military rulers have moved up preparations for a presidential election aimed at reinstating civilian rule, in an apparent concession to opposition activists engaged in street battles with police outside Cairo's Interior Ministry.
State news agency MENA on Monday said nominations for presidential candidates will be accepted beginning March 10, a month earlier than planned. Egypt's ruling military has pledged to hold a presidential election in June, but speeding up the nomination process could allow for an earlier vote in April or May.
That presidential vote would be Egypt's first since last year's popular uprising that ousted longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
MENA said Egyptian military ruler Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi called for a quick completion of nomination procedures in a Monday meeting with the head of a judicial election supervisory committee.
Egyptian opposition activists who want a faster end to military rule threw stones at police guarding the Interior Ministry on Monday, as police fired tear gas and set up concrete blocks to keep protesters away from the building. Medics say one person was killed, raising the death toll from five days of anti-government riots to 13.
The violent protests erupted in Cairo and the eastern city of Suez after a football riot killed 74 people in the northern city of Port Said. Opposition activists accuse the ruling military and police of negligence and complicity in the February 1 disaster, one of the deadliest in the history of the sport.
In other developments, the White House Monday said an Egyptian government crackdown on foreign and Egyptian pro-democracy advocates could threaten Cairo's access to U.S. aid. Egyptian authorities on Sunday said 43 activists, including 19 Americans, must face trial on charges of illegal funding of pro-democracy groups and running organizations without required licenses.
One of 19 Americans is Sam LaHood, a son of U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. The Egyptian prosecutor's office Monday said at least five of the Americans including LaHood have been barred from leaving the country, while the others have left.
White House Press secretary Jay Carney said the ruling Egyptian military's actions could have “consequences” for bilateral relations and U.S. assistance programs for Egypt, which receives more than $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid.
Egyptian authorities also imposed a travel ban Sunday on a prominent Egyptian investment banker with close ties to ousted president Hosni Mubarak's son Gamal. Airport officials said Egypt's prosecutor general ordered them to block EFG Hermes CEO Yasser al-Mallawany from leaving Cairo on a flight to the United Arab Emirates. It is not clear what charges al-Mallawany faces.
