Army issues warning as Egyptians go to polls

EGYPT’s army ruler warned yesterday he would not tolerate any pressure ahead of new protests demanding that he step down on the eve of the country’s first elections since the January revolution.

Egyptians go to the polls today to cast their votes for a new parliament after the end of the 30-year rule of strongman Hosni Mubarak, forced from power in February in a seminal moment of the Arab Spring.

The run-up to voting in the cultural heart of the Arab world and the region’s most populous country has been marred by violence and fears of chaos as the army, protesters and new political figures fight for influence.