Egypt's election commission said on Saturday that ex-spy chief Omar Suleiman, Muslim Brotherhood candidate Khairat al-Shater and Salafist politician Hazem Abu Ismail are among 10 candidates barred from running for president.

Commission official Tarek Abul Atta told AFP that Suleiman had been disqualified because he failed to get endorsements from 15 provinces as per law.

Thousands of Islamists demonstrated in Egypt on Friday to demand that members of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime be barred from standing in next month's presidential election.

They gathered in an upbeat mood in the capital's iconic Tahrir Square, symbol of the popular protest movement that led to last year's downfall of Mubarak, amid chants of "No to leftovers from the old regime!"

Egypt's parliament on Thursday approved a law that would ban members of ousted president Hosni Mubarak's regime from standing for public office, in the latest twist to Egypt's political roller coaster.

The law, which still has to be approved by the ruling military council, could see former officials including ex-intelligence chief Omar Suleiman disqualified from standing in a presidential election scheduled for next month.

Salafist politician Hazem Abu Ismail looks set to rejoin the presidential race after a court ruled on Wednesday that his mother was not a U.S. citizen, the official MENA news agency reported.

Under the country's electoral law, all candidates for the presidency, their parents and their wives must have only Egyptian citizenship.

A Cairo court said on Tuesday it had suspended an Islamists-dominated commission that had been tasked with drafting the country's new constitution.

The court, which deals with administrative issues, did not explain the reasons for its decision which was announced after lawyers and liberal political parties filed a complaint accusing the Islamists-majority parliament, which formed the panel, of having abused its powers.

An explosion on Monday hit a pipeline which supplies Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan, marking the 14th such attack since 2011, security officials said.

According to witnesses, masked gunmen in two cars dug a hole near the pipeline in the al-Midan area close to the north Sinai town of al-Arish, placed the explosives inside and detonated them remotely.

With a White House meeting, talks at a think-tank, and interviews with newspapers, Islamists unshackled by the Arab Spring are launching a new charm offensive to reassure a nervous Washington.

The rise to power of elected Islamists in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere has alarmed many Americans, who fear the emergence of Iran-style theocracies that would deny the rights of women and minorities and antagonize Israel.

Salafist politician Hazem Abu Ismail will probably be disqualified from his bid for Egypt's presidency because his late mother was a US citizen, the electoral commission said on Saturday.

Under the country's electoral law, all candidates for the presidency, their parents and their wives must have only Egyptian citizenship.

Former spy chief Omar Suleiman, a pillar of the ousted regime, decided on Friday to run in next month's presidential vote, in a surprise twist to a contest to elect Hosni Mubarak's successor.

His change of mind came after hundreds of demonstrators gathered in a Cairo district to urge Suleiman, who served as Mubarak's vice president before the strongman's overthrow last year, to contest the poll.

Thousands of people rallied in central Cairo on Friday in support of a Salafist candidate who could be ruled out of Egypt's presidential election because his mother reportedly held U.S. nationality.

Under the country's electoral law, all candidates for the presidency, their parents and their wives must have only Egyptian citizenship.