Egypt presidential hopeful attacked in carjacking

CAIRO (AP) — A prominent Egyptian Islamist and presidential hopeful is in hospital after a carjacking attack overnight on a highway to Cairo.

The state MENA news agency says three masked gunmen attacked Abdel-Moneim Aboul-Fotouh as he was returning from a campaign trip to Menoufia, north of the Egyptian capital.

MENA says Aboul-Fotouh sustained a concussion while his driver was wounded. Both were in hospital on Friday. The assailants made away with the car.

A liberal within the Muslim Brotherhood, Aboul-Fotouh gained support among pro-democracy groups behind the country's uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year. The Brotherhood expelled him when he declared his intention to run in the upcoming presidential elections.

Crime has been on the rise in Egypt since Mubarak's ouster.