Leftist Egypt candidate says Mubarak-era abuses continue

Egyptian leftist presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabbahi denounced Saturday what he called the continuation of abuses that marked the regime of ousted strongman Hosni Mubarak, as election campaigning got underway. Sabbahi faces an uphill battle in the May 26-27 poll against Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the hugely popular former army chief who overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July. "The policies that were present under Mubarak are the same policies present now" under the military-installed regime, he told a campaign rally in the southern city of Assiut. "Our goal is to gain the people's trust to change the policies of corruption and tyranny and poverty," he said in remarks broadcast live on television.