The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org. April 9, 2012 Ex-Egyptian Spy Chief To Run For President ------------------------------------------- The former intelligence chief of ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak has joined the presidential race. Omar Suleiman made the announcement on Friday. He headed Egypt intelligence services for more than 18 years under Mubarak. Suleiman was a close U.S. ally who had a key role in the Bush administration extraordinary rendition program. During the Egyptian uprising last year, Mubarak appointed Suleiman as his first-ever vice president. Meanwhile, a popular Islamist candidate named Hazem Salah Abu Ismail has been ruled ineligible to run because documents show his mother became a U.S. citizen before she died — a charge Ismail has disputed. .