Daunting choice for Egyptian voters

Egyptians choosing their president freely for the first time faced a daunting choice between a former general from the old guard and an Islamist who says he is running for God, leaving many voters perplexed and fearful of the future.

A win for either Ahmed Shafik (the last prime minister of ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak) or Mohamed Morsy, a US-educated engineer who would turn Egypt into an Islamic democracy, will go far to define the outcome of the wave of Arab Spring uprisings last year.

“We have to vote because these elections are historic,” said Amr Omar, voting in Cairo, who said he was a revolutionary youth activist. “I will vote for Morsy . . . Even if it means electing the hypocritical Islamists, we must break the vicious cycle of Mubarak’s police state.”