Muslim Brotherhood candidate stirs up Egypt race

(Reuters) - A deft businessman and politician tempered by years in Hosni Mubarak's prisons, Khairat al-Shater is aiming to bring Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood to the pinnacle of power for the first time in its 84-year history. But his candidacy for the presidency has exposed rifts in the Islamist group's ranks, worried liberals and could turn up the heat in a row with Egypt's ruling army.

Without even a day of campaigning under his belt but by virtue of the Brotherhood's broad grassroots network, Shater, 61, moves straight into the ranks of frontrunners for the job Mubarak held for 30 years until he was ousted last year.

It marks a dramatic shift for the Brotherhood which has U-turned on its earlier pledge not to field a candidate to avoid charges of monopolizing power in post-Mubarak Egypt. It is also a big change for Shater, a respected strategist for the group who until a little more than a year ago worked in a prison cell. Read More