Egypt army chief Sisi says will run for president: report

Reuters
Egypt's Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is seen during a news conference in Cairo on the release of seven members of the Egyptian security forces kidnapped by Islamist militants in Sinai, May 22, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said he will run for president, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported on Thursday. Al-Seyassah quoted Sisi as saying that he had no alternative but to meet the demands of the Egyptian people for him to run in the elections, which are due within six months. In July, Sisi toppled Egypt's first freely elected president, Islamist Mohamed Mursi, after mass protests against his rule. Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement accuse Sisi of staging a coup and undermining democratic gains made since a popular uprising ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011. (Reporting by Michael Georgy; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)