Egyptian panel tasked with issues of the planned presidential elections released a final list of 13 candidates eligible to run in next month’s vote.

Egyptian panel tasked with issues of the planned presidential elections released a final list of 13 candidates eligible to run in next month's vote.

Earlier this month, the military council approved a new law denying political rights to anyone who served as president, vice-president or prime minister in the decade prior to Mubarak's fall.

The committee list on Thursday included AhmedShafiq, the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak, who was disqualified and then reinstated over a 24-hour period this week.

"After listening to Shafiq's appeal, the committee decided to halt the decision to exclude him from the presidential race," Farouk Soltan, the head of the election committee, told a news conference while announcing the list in Cairo.

The electoral committee also decided to refer the new law to the Supreme Constitutional Court to determine whether it was constitutional or not.
Candidates able to stand include Amr Moussa, former foreign minister; Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, an independent moderate; and Mohammed Mursi, chairman of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP).

Abol Fotouh may now receive backing from supporters of the Salafist al-Nour party.
The eligible candidates were among a total of 23 hopefuls before the commission disqualified 10 of them earlier this month.

Among those barred from running are Omar Suleiman, Mubarak's former vice-president and spy chief, along with Khairat al-Shater of the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist Hazem Abu Ismail.
Presidential elections are set for May 23 and 24 with a runoff scheduled in June.