Mubarak rival calls for election rerun

EGYPTIAN President Hosni Mubarak’s most prominent rival yesterday asked for a rerun of presidential elections on the grounds that abuses made the Wednesday vote invalid.

With Mr Mubarak reported to have taken more than 70% of the vote, Ayman Nour of the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) Party also asked the Presidential Election Commission to delay its announcement of the result.

Mr Nour, a 40-year-old lawyer and member of parliament, is the best known of the nine party leaders who tried to stop Mr Mubarak, 77, winning a fifth six-year term.