ion of a presidential candidate on technical grounds. But even as the demonstrators held up posters of their banned candidate, the Salafi preacher Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, others described a broader reason for the protests: a rising fear that the military council which has ruled Egypt since the ouster of Hosni Mubara

nst the FJP's 38%) in the parliamentary elections that concluded in January. Without a Brotherhood candidate in the race, some officials fear that Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, the charismatic Salafist presidential hopeful who talks of emulating Iran's theocratic political system and of ending the peace treaty with Israel

ecently deserted the Muslim Brotherhood and, given his prominence, his departure has the potential to split the Muslim Brotherhood vote. Similarly, Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, a lawyer and Islamic scholar, is the candidate favored by young Salafis, but lacking a broader base, his established party, Al Now, does not suppor