Mubarak ushers in reforms

President Hosni Mubarak has opened the door to multi-candidate presidential polls in Egypt, the first contested polls since the 1952 fall of the monarchy.

Mubarak, 76, said he had proposed Parliament change the constitution "to give the opportunity to political parties to enter the presidential elections and provide guarantees that allow more than one candidate to be put forward to the presidency for people to choose among them freely". The next presidential vote is due in September.