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| Killings Heighten Tension Around Egyptian Election | Killings Heighten Tension Around Egyptian Election |
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| CAIRO — Three riot police trying to break up a student protest against Egypt’s military-backed government were killed in a drive-by shooting in Cairo on Tuesday as early overseas results confirmed that the military’s former leader, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was headed for a big victory in next week’s presidential voting. | |
| The riot police were dispersing a demonstration by hundreds of students of Al-Azhar University that began late Monday when someone in a passing vehicle opened fire, state media reported. Several other soldiers were injured. | |
| The shooting revived fears of violence around the presidential voting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week. During the two weeks of campaigning so far, unknown assailants have also attacked or set fire to at least three Sisi campaign offices, in the Nile Delta, Cairo, and Luxor, according to official media reports. | The shooting revived fears of violence around the presidential voting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week. During the two weeks of campaigning so far, unknown assailants have also attacked or set fire to at least three Sisi campaign offices, in the Nile Delta, Cairo, and Luxor, according to official media reports. |
| In the 10 months since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, Islamist militants have attacked and killed several hundred soldiers and police officers in either revenge killings or efforts to start an insurgency. | In the 10 months since the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, Islamist militants have attacked and killed several hundred soldiers and police officers in either revenge killings or efforts to start an insurgency. |
| Mr. Sisi, who recently dropped the title of field marshal and left the military in order to run as a civilian, is expected to easily defeat his one competitor in the presidential race, Hamdeen Sabahi, who was the third-biggest vote-getter in the first round of the 2012 election that chose Mr. Morsi as president. | Mr. Sisi, who recently dropped the title of field marshal and left the military in order to run as a civilian, is expected to easily defeat his one competitor in the presidential race, Hamdeen Sabahi, who was the third-biggest vote-getter in the first round of the 2012 election that chose Mr. Morsi as president. |
| Mr. Sisi and Mr. Sabahi are campaigning as populist, nationalist and anti-Islamist heirs of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the longtime Arab nationalist president. But Mr. Sisi is the clear candidate of the military, political and business establishment. He is celebrated as a hero by the state and private media and others fearful of political Islam since he ousted Mr. Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last year. His pictures hang everywhere, and his campaign has outspent Mr. Sabahi’s shoestring effort by a ratio of more than 10 to 1. | Mr. Sisi and Mr. Sabahi are campaigning as populist, nationalist and anti-Islamist heirs of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the longtime Arab nationalist president. But Mr. Sisi is the clear candidate of the military, political and business establishment. He is celebrated as a hero by the state and private media and others fearful of political Islam since he ousted Mr. Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood last year. His pictures hang everywhere, and his campaign has outspent Mr. Sabahi’s shoestring effort by a ratio of more than 10 to 1. |
| Mr. Sabahi’s campaign has sought to portray him as the candidate of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak while painting Mr. Sisi as the candidate of the military, the old guard and the state. But Mr. Sabahi has struggled to get his message out through the din of popular acclaim for Mr. Sisi. | Mr. Sabahi’s campaign has sought to portray him as the candidate of the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak while painting Mr. Sisi as the candidate of the military, the old guard and the state. But Mr. Sabahi has struggled to get his message out through the din of popular acclaim for Mr. Sisi. |
| The Brotherhood, which dominated the only free elections held in Egypt, in 2012 and 2013, has been outlawed by the military-installed government, which calls the organization a terrorist group. Mr. Morsi and most of the Brotherhood’s other senior figures are in jail, along with tens of thousands of their supporters. Its leaders in exile have called for a boycott. | The Brotherhood, which dominated the only free elections held in Egypt, in 2012 and 2013, has been outlawed by the military-installed government, which calls the organization a terrorist group. Mr. Morsi and most of the Brotherhood’s other senior figures are in jail, along with tens of thousands of their supporters. Its leaders in exile have called for a boycott. |
| Several other past presidential candidates — a rights activist, another former general, and a popular Islamist moderate — declined to compete this time because they deemed the race rigged in Mr. Sisi’s favor. | Several other past presidential candidates — a rights activist, another former general, and a popular Islamist moderate — declined to compete this time because they deemed the race rigged in Mr. Sisi’s favor. |
| So far, Mr. Sisi has received more than 90 percent of the votes cast at embassies and consulates by Egyptians living abroad, according to preliminary results released Tuesday by the Sisi campaign and published by the Egyptian state media. | So far, Mr. Sisi has received more than 90 percent of the votes cast at embassies and consulates by Egyptians living abroad, according to preliminary results released Tuesday by the Sisi campaign and published by the Egyptian state media. |