CAIRO: Egypt’s former military chief and presumed presidential front-runner visited the Coptic pope on Saturday ahead of Orthodox Easter, making his first public

appearance since he formally made his bid for the presidency.

Pope Tawadros II is a strong backer of retired Field Marshal Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who removed the country’s first democratically elected president last summer after a wave of popular protests.

Tawadros backed the military’s overthrow of Islamist Mohammed Morsi and appeared alongside el-Sissi with Muslim leaders and secular politicians after his ouster.

Following Morsi’s removal, rioters burned and vandalized churches and government buildings in the country.

Orthodox Easter is Sunday and El-Sissi’s visit to the pope’s seat of power at St. Mark’s Cathedral is a tribute to the country’s Christians, some 10 per cent of Egypt’s population. Morsi never visited the Cathedral, instead sending a representative last year.

Some radical Islamists had argued even against greeting Christians during their holidays. According to a statement, el-Sissi told Pope Tawadros that Christians and Muslims will remain united. Riding a wave of widespread support for the military after Morsi’s ouster, el-Sissi is widely expected to win the coming May 26-27 presidential election. There is little opposition to the former military chief, who retired before declaring his bid as Egyptian law bans soldiers from running. Official campaigning is due to start May 2, when officials announce a final list of candidates.

Hamdeen Sabahi, a former left-leaning presidential candidate, made formal his bid for office, submitting to the election commission just a little over 30,000 signatures Saturday endorsing his candidacy. That is 5,000 more than what is required, but is six times less than the number of signatures el-Sissi presented to the commission.

Sabahi came in third in 2012 elections,

garnering around 5 million votes. But the elections and the national mood were different, with fierce competition between candidates. After submitting his papers, Sabahi

said he hoped for fair elections and described his campaign as one to realize the demands of a youth-led revolution.—AP