A Salafi leader has for the first time spoken openly on Monday about a possible deal between the Salafi Nour Party and the military over a particular candidate in the upcoming presidential election. The website of the state-run daily Al-Ahram quoted Salafi Front spokesperson Khaled Saeed as saying the party would not support Salafi presidential hopeful Hazem Abu Ismail, possibly because of an agreement with the military not to support an Islamist for the presidency.

Khaled Saeed, spokesman for the heavy weighted Salafist Front – formed after the January 25 Revolution to call for the adoption of Islamic law in Egypt – on Monday said an agreement had been in place since August for the group to support Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail's presidential bid. The decision was "not because he is a Salafist or has an Islamic orientation, but because we haven't seen another programme like his and his ideas are the closest to our own," he added.

Michael Mounir, Coptic rights activist and head of the liberal Hayat Party, has said that Coptic Christians do not agree on a specific presidential candidate but are united in their opposition to Islamist candidates. "I hope Egyptians choose a president to serve the country and don’t base their choice simply on a candidate's religion," Mounir said in an interview on Dream TV's Good Morning Egypt.

Egyptian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates Tamer Mansour has denied reports that the Emirati Foreign Ministry contacted embassy officials regarding criticism by Mahmoud Ghozlan, the official spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood, of the UAE.

Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan has warned that group members who throw their support behind presidential hopeful and former Brotherhood official Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fotouh would be dismissed from the movement, which currently controls almost half the seats in Egypt’s parliament. In a telephone interview with Al Jazeera Mubasher-Misr television channel on Saturday evening, Ghozlan said: "The group is looking for an appropriate candidate for the position [of president]. Once we determine who that will be, Brotherhood members will not be allowed to support any other candidate."

Salafist MP Mamdouh Ismail of Asala Party stated in parliament's first joint session of the upper and lower house held on Saturday, which deliberates the formation of the country's constituent assembly, that Egypt's constitution should reflect the "Islamist identity" of the nation.

A top Gulf official slammed Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood Saturday, following a Brotherhood leader’s criticism of United Arab Emirates policies. The official said the remarks may hurt longstanding bilateral ties between Egypt and Gulf countries. Last week, Mahmoud Ghozlan, Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, sharply criticized the UAE over its stance against the influential Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi.

The Maspero Youth Union, a revolutionary Coptic youth group, has called for a demonstration to take place on Sunday in front of the general prosecutor's office at the Supreme Court to protest a prison sentence given to priest Makarius Boulos of the Mar Girgis Church in El-Marinab, Upper Egypt. Father Boulos was handed a six-month prison sentence on charges of violating construction regulations. His church was found to be a few metres higher than permitted.

Pope Shenouda's health is stable and reassuring, the pope's secretary told Al-Masry Al-Youm on Saturday. Bishop Armia denied reports that the Church is praying for the Pope due to a sharp deterioration in his health. He added that the Church prays daily for the safety of the Church, the pope and all officials in Egypt now.

Al-Masry Al-Youm met with presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, who expounded on his criticism of political deals surrounding presidential candidates and his positioning as an Islamist candidate in the map of political support from established parties, particularly Salafi-oriented ones. The paper published its Q&A with the presidential hopeful on Sunday.

Leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood Ali Bateekh stated on Monday that the Brotherhood will not be nominating a candidate for the presidential race and nor will it be backing a candidate belonging to an Islamist party or movement. Bateekh is a member of the Brotherhood's Shura Council, a group responsible for the planning and charting of general policies of the movement.

The Salafi movement will likely support Islamists Hazem Abu Ismail, Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh or Mohamed Selim al-Awa for president in the upcoming elections, a party leader told Shabab magazine. The movement will make a final decision on which candidate it will back after the nomination process ends in April, movement spokesperson Abdel Moneim al-Shahhat said in an interview with the magazine, which is published by state-owned Al-Ahram.

Authorities banned 37 Egyptian Copts from flying to Italy en route to Russia, a security source at Cairo International Airport has said. The head of the Italian airline company requested the travel ban because the travelers did not have visas required to access European Union countries, the source said, expressing concerns they would head to Italy and ask for political asylum.

Authorities referred the Salafi NGO Ansar al-Sunnah to investigation by the Public Funds Prosecution over charges of embezzlement and illegally receiving foreign funding, judicial sources told privately owned Al-Tahrir newspaper Tuesday. Last September, police raided 17 NGO offices, including several US-based pro-democracy groups. The government said at the time that the raid was part of wider probe into the massive amounts of illegal funds pouring into the country following the ouster of the former President Hosni Mubarak last year.

Deputy Supreme Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood Khairat al-Shater traveled to Doha on Monday for talks with Qatari officials about recent developments in the region. The visit will last for few days. An informed source who was with Shater at Cairo International Airport said talks “will tackle coordination between Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party on developments in Egypt and the Arab region.”

Salafist MP Mamdouh Ismail of Asala Party stated in parliament's first joint session of the upper and lower house held on Saturday, which deliberates the formation of the country's constituent assembly, that Egypt's constitution should reflect the "Islamist identity" of the nation.

Muslim brotherhood deputy chairman Khairat El-Shater left Cairo for Doha on Monday for a visit that will last several days during which he will meet a number of Qatari officials. El-Shater will discuss both recent developments in Egypt as well as regional affairs.

SalafistNour Party MP Anwar El-Balkimy was allegedly attacked few days ago in the latest reported armed assault on a prominent Egyptian politician. Allegations, however, have subsequently emerged that the MPs facial injuries – which he says he sustained in the attack – were actually the result of a plastic surgery.

A military court has adjourned the case of protester deaths during a mostly Coptic march in October to 13 March, MENA reported on Sunday. The court said that it needs to hear the testimonies of more witnesses. Three soldiers are charged with killing protesters: Mahmoud Abdel Hameed Suliman, 21, Karam Hamed Mohamed, 21, and Mahmoud Gamal Taha, 22.

Senior members of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood have reacted angrily to statements by US Senator John McCain in which he thanked the group for its role in lifting the travel ban on indicted foreign NGO workers. At least thirteen foreign nationals, uncluding several Americans, out of 43 people accused of working in Egypt and raising US funds without appropriate government authorisation, departed Egypt on a US military plane on Thursday.

The Salafi Front in Egypt has called on Egyptians to demonstrate in front of Parliament on Monday at 4 pm in remembrance of the dissolution of the State Security Investigation Services. The front said in a statement that the dissolution was only “formal” because it was replaced by the National Security Agency, which has the same practices.