Det er full forvirring i Egypts presidentvalgkamp om hvem som er favorittene. Noen tror Amr Moussa og den moderate islamisten Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.
Men det er de som mener to outsidere har gode sjanser. Den tidligere flyvåpengeneralen Ahmed Shafik og den arabiske nasjonalisten Hamdeen Sabahi.
Det er interessant og illevarslende at en kandidat som går i Gambel Abdel Nassers fotspor sier Egypt må forberede seg på krig med Israel.
At the same time, Hamdeen Sabahi, a socialist and Arab nationalist in the tradition of Gamal Abdel Nasser, earned a surprising second-place finish in the early returns of Egyptians voting abroad, disclosed Friday night. Those results, in turn, suggest that his secular brand of populism may be catching on among voters looking for an alternative to the previous front-runners, who are either Islamists or former Mubarak government officials.
Mr. Sabahi, more than any of the Islamists, is also the candidate most hostile to Israel and the West. He often says ambiguously that he does not object to the text of Egypt’s Camp David treaty with Israel, but that he wants to abolish “the spirit” of the agreement, and suggests that Egypt should prepare for a possible war with its neighbor.
“I will support all forms of armed resistance” against Israel, Mr. Sabahi said, “whether it comes from Palestine’s land, from Lebanon’s land or from any other land.” “Egypt will no longer be a godfather for Israel in this region,” he added. “This will be over.”
