Whereabouts of Egypt presidential hopeful unknown

By Hussein Qabani

CAIRO

The whereabouts of Egyptian presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq, who was deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Cairo, is still unknown, according to a party leader.

"We don't know where he is," Rauwf al-Sayed, deputy leader of Shafiq’s National Movement party, told Anadolu Agency on Sunday.

Shafiq, a former prime minister, arrived in Cairo on Saturday after being deported by the UAE authorities.

His daughter and several aides said UAE authorities took him from his home and put him on a private plane headed for Egypt, while his family stayed behind in the country.

The deportation came days after Shafiq announced that he was planning to run in Egypt’s presidential election scheduled for 2018.

Shafiq, 76, briefly served as prime minister under autocratic President Hosni Mubarak, who stepped down in early 2011 following 18 days of popular demonstrations against his regime.

In Egypt’s first-ever free presidential election in 2012, Shafiq lost -- by a narrow margin -- to Mohamed Morsi, a leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood group. He had resided in the UAE since then.