Egypt: Inconsistent accounts of Anan assassination attempt

Egyptian presidential hopeful and former Chief of Army Staff Sami Anan was the subject of a failed assassination attempt on Sunday evening, his press office said on Monday. However, officials at the Ministry of the Interior denied receiving any information in this regard.

Anan’s press office said in a statement that he had survived an assassination attempt which took place while he was leaving his office at 5:20pm on Sunday. The building’s security guard informed Anan that unidentified individuals had been monitoring him from a taxi. As soon as his car started to move Anan noticed two cars following him.

He said he would submit the information he has, including the number plates of the assailants, to the “investigative authorities”.

The statement held security agencies responsible for his security and for protecting him and his family from such “despicable attempts”.

However, the spokesman of the interior ministry Hani Abdel-Latif categorically denied the incident, dismissing it as “completely untrue” and as being “part of an electoral campaign”.