Egypt candidates woo middle ground

The two surviving candidates in Egypt’s presidential election have appealed for support from voters who rejected them as polarising extremists in the first round, as they faced a new challenge from the third runner-up.

Ahmed Shafiq, Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, vowed he would not revive the old authoritarian regime as he sought to cast off his image as an anti-revolution figure, while the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Morsi reached out to those fearful of hardline Islamic rule and the rise of a religious state.