The entire family of Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak have voted for Ahmed Shafiq as his successor, claims a cousin cited by Ahram's Arabic-language portal.

Mubarak's relative in the Nile Delta village of Kafr El-Meselha in Monufia governorate -- also the birthplace of the 84-year old ex-ruler -- told a visiting Ahram reporter that his extended family are all backing Shafiq in this week's presidential elections.



Gamil, a paternal cousin in late middle age who works as a tailor, said that while Amr Moussa was a "respectable candidate", former prime minister Shafiq was a better choice due to his military expertise.



"Islamists are only in it for their own interests," he told Ahram's reporter on Thursday.



Gamil went on to defend his cousin, currently in a five-star Cairo hospital awaiting a June verdict on charges of graft and ordering the killing of protesters.



He claimed that Mubarak achieved a great deal for Egypt and said the country's people should forgive him.



Gamil's statements appeared to be contradicted by the behaviour of another Mubarak cousin with the same name as the toppled president.



In March, Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, said by local media to be an ex-general, declared he would run for Egypt's presidency. He claimed he had been opposed to his cousin's regime and had supported pro-democracy demonstrators in Cairo's Tahrir Square.



In the end, however, he did not submit papers to stand for election.

https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/42740.aspx