Egypt speeds preparation for presidential vote

CAIRO — Egypt's military leader told electoral officials Monday to speed preparations for presidential elections after a new eruption of street protests demanding that the ruling generals move more quickly to hand power to an elected government.

The military rulers had previously promised to hold presidential elections for their successor by the end of June. But Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the head of the ruling military council, asked election commission officials "to quickly finish legal procedures for presidency nominations," according to Egypt's state-run news agency MENA.

Election Commission Chief Abdel-Moez Ibrahim told The Associated Press that based on Tantawi's orders, nominations for president would be accepted March 10, a month earlier than the original date. He didn't give a date for elections, but it was an indication that the vote may be held about a month ahead of schedule.

The ruling council pledged "to hand power to an elected civilian authority in a democratic, transparent and honest way."

Relations between the pro-democracy movement behind Egypt's uprising last year and the ruling generals who took power from ousted President Hosni Mubarak have grown increasingly hostile, punctuated by bouts of rioting, clashes and killings. The protesters have long called for an immediate transfer of power to a civilian authority and accuse the generals of bungling what was supposed to be a transition to democracy.

Egypt has already held parliamentary elections which were the freest and the fairest in decades and propelled Islamists to dominance. But power in the country has traditionally been concentrated in the hands of the executive.

The protests against the military rulers erupted anew after a deadly riot at a soccer stadium in Port Said on Thursday, when 74 people were killed. Protesters accused the police of doing nothing to stop the violence and that set off a new cycle of clashes that has killed 13 people in five days. One protester was killed Monday in Cairo, said Dr. Malek el-Assal at a field hospital.

On top of the domestic turmoil, Egypt is also embroiled in a new crisis with the United States, which is threatening to cut off $1.5 billion in annual aid because of a crackdown on Egyptian and foreign nonprofit groups promoting democracy and human rights. The ruling military accuses the groups of using foreign funding to foment unrest.