A popular Islamist's bid to contest presidential elections in Egypt was thrown into doubt Saturday after the election commission said his mother was a US citizen, state television reported.
The commission, which is responsible for the May polls, said it had been officially notified by the Foreign Ministry that the mother of Hazem Salah Abu Ismail became a citizen of the United States in 2006, according to the report.
Under electoral law, presidential candidates and their parents must be only Egyptian citizens, dpa reported.
Abu Ismail, 50, a leading Salafist lawyer and preacher, has emerged as a favourite for the presidential elections - the country's first since the ouster of president Hosny Mubarak in February 2011.
Thousands of Abu Ismail's supporters gathered in central Cairo on Friday to protest what they called a "plot" to invalidate his bid.
Abu Ismail has attracted thousands of dedicated followers with his revolutionary and anti-US speeches.
If he were to be disqualified it could boost the chances of the influential Muslim Brotherhood's candidate, Khairat al-Shater.
A final list of eligible contenders is expected to be announced later in April.