Egypt’s military on Monday backed a presidential bid by its commander Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew president Mohamed Mursi, state media reported.

Egypt's military on Monday backed a presidential bid by its commander Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who overthrew president Mohamed Mursi, state media reported.

Sisi, who will resign from the army to stand for office, is tipped to easily win a presidential election due to be held by mid-April, with no serious rivals.

"The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces by consensus mandated the defense minister (Sisi) to stand in presidential elections," the official MENA news agency reported.

Mursi, the country's first democratically elected president, had appointed Sisi as his defense minister in 2012.

The army chief deposed the president in July after millions took to the streets demanding the Islamist's resignation, after a turbulent year in power.