Friday, 11 May 2012

2 presidential candidates face off in Egypt's first such televised debate

The two leading candidates to become Egypt's next president after Hosni Mubarak squared off for hours Thursday and into Friday in the nation's first such televised debate, just two weeks ahead of the country's election.

A pair of private television stations, but not state TV, aired the showdown between Amre Moussa and Abdelmoneim Abolfotoh that finally ended around 2 a.m. Friday (8 p.m. ET). Not including a break, both men ended up standing on stage for about three hours.

The tone was generally even-keeled, with a few notable points of contention.

One came when Abolfotoh questioned whether Egyptians could support a "symbol of the former regime" in Moussa, who served as foreign minister under Mubarak.

"I had left the government 10 years ago, so I wasn't part of the problem," Moussa said of those railing against Mubarak's government, before turning the tables on Abolfotoh, a candidate seen as a moderate who once belonged to the Muslim Brotherhood. "You, as well, kept silent. You were defending the position of the Muslim Brotherhood, not the position or interests of Egyptians."

Moussa later pointed to Abolfotoh's involvement in Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, or the Egyptian Islamic Group, which had members who were convicted of killing hundreds of Egyptians.
Abolfotoh said he is proud to be part of building READ MORE

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