Only twenty Muslim Brotherhood candidates to run in local election

CAIRO (AFP) — Only 20 Muslim Brotherhood candidates will be running in Tuesday's local elections, the group's deputy chief told AFP, after a widescale government crackdown left many would-be candidates behind bars.

While 498 candidates of the Islamist group managed to register, the electoral commission announced that only 20 Brotherhood members would be running, Mohammed Habib said on Thursday.

The electoral commission could not be reached for confirmation.

Members of the Brotherhood run as independents on voting lists because, while the group is generally tolerated, it is officially banned.

"In a country where neither the constitution nor the law is respected, the (ruling) National Democratic Party can have recourse to all sorts of ridiculous methods," Habib said.

"The (NDP) knows that if in ...