Hamas official Mahmoud Al-Zahar has acknowledged taking out Egyptian citizenship, saying he intended to vote for an Islamist candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in Egypt.
Al-Zahar, the son of an Egyptian mother and a Palestinian father, told BBC Arabic that last September he decided to take advantage of a new Egyptian law allowing children of Egyptian mothers to apply for citizenship. Previously, only children of Egyptian fathers could do so.
When asked whether as an Egyptian citizen he intended to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, scheduled for the end of May, Al-Zahar replied, “It is my right, and I will certainly vote for an Islamist candidate.”
Speaking from his home in Gaza, Al-Zahar chastised PA President Mahmoud Abbas for cracking down on Hamas activists in the West Bank. He said the prospect of a long-term truce with Israel could only be achieved through broad Palestinian consensus, involving all political factions.
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