Will the last Christian exiting Egypt please turn off the lights?

(Ahram Online) — Egyptian presidential contender Mohamed Mursi on Monday announced his intention to apply Islamic Law in Egypt in the event he became Egypt’s next head of state.

Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s presidential candidate, declared that the application of Islamic Law represented the sole means by which Egyptians might “restore their dignity.” Mursi went on to stress that Islamic Law also represented the best means of guaranteeing the rights of Egypt’s Christian minority.

Speaking in the Nile Delta city of Kafr El-Sheikh, Mursi also discussed the Brotherhood’s Al-Nahda (‘Renaissance’) Project. Within the context of the project, which aims at achieving Egypt’s national revival after 30 years of Mubarak-era autocracy, “we will work like soldiers to develop the agriculture, health and education sectors,” Mursi said.

In a related development, prominent Egyptian cleric Safwat Hegazi threw his weight behind Mursi’s presidential campaign, comparing the Brotherhood candidate to celebrated medieval Muslim leader Salah Al-Din, who united the Muslim world, vanquished the crusaders and liberated Jerusalem from the foreign invaders.

Mursi, Hegazi declared, “is the one who will lead us to Jerusalem.”