Former army boss takes on al-Sisi

cairo - General Sami Anan, former top military, will take on President Ben Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who was announced on Friday for a second president's term, in the upcoming presidential election in March.

Anan made his candidacy known with a video message on his Facebook channel. He called on the Egyptian government and officials in his country to observe neutrality for all candidates.

The ballot box in the North African country starts on March 26 and takes three days. The experts assumes that the incumbent president will win easily in the absence of good counter-candidates. Former prime minister Ahmed Shafik looked like a contender, but he retired in January. According to The New York Times, he was under pressure from the government.

Al-Sisi came to power after he had toppled the democratically elected Islamist Mohamed Mursi in 2013 as an army leader. This was preceded by large-scale demonstrations in the country.