Mubarak sets Egypt election date

Cairo, 21 Oct-(ANA)-President Hosni Mubarak has set 28 November as the date for Egypt's parliamentary elections, a decree cited by the state-run Mena news agency says.

For the first time, 64 seats in the 518-member chamber have been created, which can only be contested by women.

Some opposition parties have called for a boycott of the vote, saying that it will neither be free nor fair.

But Egypt's main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is taking part, along with a host of smaller parties.

The Islamist group, which is banned, won 20% of the seats in parliament in 2005 by fielding candidates as independents.

Dozens of Brotherhood members have been arrested in the run-up to next month's vote, seen as a test of government restrictions on political opponents before a 2011 presidential election.

President Mubarak, 82, has ruled Egypt for 30 years but has not yet said whether or not he will stand for a sixth term. (ANA)

FA/ANA/21 October 2010------------