Afghanistan: Egypt’s Abdel Fatah al-Sissi declares intent to run for presidency --- CAIRO — Three years ago, Abdel Fatah al-Sissi was a mostly unknown member of a council of Egypt’s top military officers. On Wednesday, the field marshal, whose image is now plastered on billboards and chocolate bars, declared what everyone in this nation was expecting — that he would run for president, a position he is virtually certain to win. -- “The state needs to regain its posture and power,” he said in an address on national television. “Our mission is to restore Egypt.” -- Officially, Sissi will run for president as a civilian. But the 59-year-old’s election would complete the defeat of Egypt’s brief experiment in Islamist rule and make him the sixth military man to lead the country over what has been a nearly unbroken 62-year span of autocracy. -- It was under Sissi’s command that the military staged the coup in July that toppled Mohamed Morsi, who in 2012 had become Egypt’s first democratically elected president. If Sissi wins the backing of voters, he could gain greater legitimacy. But his role continues to pose a challenge for the United States, which is eager to maintain close ties with Egypt, a longtime ally, without appearing to endorse its shift away from democracy. -- Unlike Hosni Mubarak, Anwar Sadat and the other military leaders who preceded him, Sissi never fought in any of Egypt’s wars with Israel, a source of both pride and legitimacy for the other men, as well as a lingering aspect of the nation’s cultural identity. Even so, supporters have likened Sissi to Egypt’s most popular military president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who planned the 1952 coup that ousted the monarchy. -- No election date has been set, but Sissi was required to step down as defense minister to become a presidential candidate. “I leave this uniform to defend the country,’’ he said. - More, Abigail Hauslohner, Washingtonpost, at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/no-longer-a-general-abdel-fatah-al-sissi-is-poised-to-become-egypts-next-president/2014/03/26/7c6440b9-1bed-468f-b315-735a32f7d9e8