Hamas official says will vote for an Islamist in Egypt’s presidential elections

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar, who has recently obtained Egyptian citizenship, said he will travel to Egypt to vote for an Islamist presidential candidate who will best serve the Palestinian cause.

“I will cast my vote in Egypt’s presidential elections, and i think if the opportunity is given to all Palestinian people they will vote for a candidate who is able to best serve the Palestinian cause,” Zahar told Al Arabiya in statements published on Sunday.

Zahar did not mention which Islamist candidate he plans to vote for. The main Islamist contenders in this month’s Egyptian elections are moderate Islamist Abdel Moneim Abdoul Fotouh and Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammad Morsi.

“I will vote for an Islamist candidate who has a vision more than simply reforming the current situation, and this not partisanship or fanaticism. The Islamic project is politically and economically comprehensive.”

The Hamas official, who lost his son in the 2008 Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, has recently obtained the Egyptian citizenship through his Egyptian mother. An estimated 11,000 Palestinian nationals hold the Egyptian citizenship and have the right to vote in the May 24 presidential elections.

Thousand of Palestinians have recently obtained the Egyptian citizenship through a 1975 law that was frozen until 2011 when it was reactivated following the ouster of Hosni Mubarak's regime.

According to the law, a foreign national whose father or mother is an Egyptian national has the right to apply for and obtain the Egyptian citizenship.