Egypt orders detention of ex-presidential candidate who said he may run against the current president in 2018

REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's public prosecutor on Tuesday ordered the detention of ex-presidential candidate Khalid Ali for questioning in relation to a case in which he is accused of "offending public decency," his lawyer told Reuters.

Ali, a prominent human rights lawyer who ran in Egypt's 2012 election, has suggested he might run against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a presidential election slated for 2018.

Ali is being sued by a private citizen over a photograph in which he appears to make a rude hand gesture on the steps of a Cairo court house, according to his lawyer Malek Adly. Ali denies the authenticity of the photo.

A judicial source confirmed Ali had been ordered detained for 24 hours for questioning about the incident in Cairo on Jan 16.

(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Additional reporting by Haitham Ahmed Writing by Tom Finn; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

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