A Facebook page that supports Muslim Brotherhood leader Khairat al-Shater has launched a sharp attack on Hamdeen Sabbahi, who came in third in the first round of the presidential election. The attack came after Sabbahi said that during the run-offs Egyptians would be facing two “nightmares,” the risk of religious tyranny or the threat of reproducing the Mubarak regime.
The page said, “Hamdeen is equating between the fighter Dr. Mohamed Morsy, and the killer Ahmed Shafiq, and considers both bad options.”
Morsy topped the poll followed by Shafiq. Turnout was 46 percent, according to official results.
The run-off on 16 and 17 June gives Egyptians a stark choice between a military man linked to the past and an Islamist whose conservative message threatens secularists and the country’s nearly 8-10 million Christians.
About half of the first-round votes went to candidates somewhere in the middle ground — from leftist Hamdeen Sabbahi in third place to moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abouel Fotouh and former Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.
The page claimed that Shater donated LE500,000 to Sabbahi’s campaign before announcing his own candidacy. Meanwhile, the Sabbahi campaign denied this claim.
The Sabbahi campaign has accused the Brotherhood of starting rumors about Sabbahi. In a statement Wednesday, the campaign said, “The Brotherhood’s media machine is relentlessly launching rumors about the fighter Hamdeen Sabbahi, and the higher his stature rises with the growth of his supporters, the more their propaganda machine launches rumors slandering his history of struggle and his clean slate which everyone can testify to, be it friend or foe.”
The campaign said it did not receive any donations from Shater or any other Brotherhood members, pointing out the financial difficulties the campaign faced. They said it did not receive donations officially until it had opened a bank account, which limited the campaign in comparison to those of other candidates.
