Former general intelligence officer Hossam Khairallah, a veteran of the 1973 war who currently heads an investment firm, to make bid for country`s highest office.
Hossam Khairallah, a former lieutenant-general in Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate, formally announced his presidential candidacy at a Monday press conference held at Cairo’s Grand-Hyatt hotel.
A veteran of the Yemen conflict in the 1960s and the 1973 war with Israel, Khairallah served in Egyptian intelligence for 28 years before retiring in 2005.
Khairallah currently serves as chairman of the Nile Investment Company and chairman of the New Cairo Club.
Khairallah is not Egypt’s first post-revolution presidential candidate to have a military pedigree. One week ago, former prime minister and Egyptian Air Force lieutenant-general Ahmed Shafik officially launched his own presidential campaign.
Following the ouster of former president Hosni Mubarak, former army chief-of-staff Magdy Hatata was also briefly touted as a potential presidential candidate before withdrawing from the contest in December following five days of violent street clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces.
[Developed in partnership with Ahram Online.]