Former spy chief and vice president Omar Suleiman issued a statement on Friday afternoon announcing that he will run for president of Egypt.

Suleiman's statement comes in response to a rally which took place earlier Friday in Abbasiya, Cairo by hundreds of his supporters who demanded Mubarak's long-time Right-hand run for president.

The 75-year-old Suleiman had announced on Thursday that he won't seek the country's highest office due to "difficult political situation and because he cannot fulfill the conditions required to become an official candidate."

In Friday's statement, however, Suleiman explained: "I can not disobey people's will. Even though I said in my previous statement that I will face a lot of troubles and difficulties."

He added that he will withdraw from the race if he fails to collect the required signatures on Saturday.

Suleiman is mandated, like other presidential candidates, to collect 30,000 recommendation forms, in order to run in Egypt's first presidential elections.

Deadline for filing the forms is on Sunday, 8 April.