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Egypt's election commission rejected the appeals of three maincontenders for president Tuesday, definitively removing the mostpolarizing candidates from the race to become the country's firstelected leader since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. The disqualification of the three diminishes the chances that anIslamist candidate will win the presidency, but there are worriesover the fallout from the decision, particularly from thesupporters of one of the barred candidates, ultraconservativeIslamist Hazem Abu Ismail. Around 2,000 Abu Ismail supporters had camped outside thecommission's headquarters since the previous day, demanding he beallowed to run. When the rejection was announced Tuesday evening,some of them threw stones at security and briefly scuffled withmilitary police. The commission's decision removes the top contenders in the race Mubarak-era strongman Omar Suleiman, Muslim Brotherhood chiefstrategist Khairat el-Shater and Abu Ismail, a lawyer turnedhard-line preacher. The panel had announced their disqualificationover the weekend, shocking many in the country. Each appealed thedecision but on Tuesday the panel rejected the appeals. Suleiman was disqualified because he fell short of the requirednumber of public endorsements; el-Shater because of a previousconviction; Abu Ismail because his mother held American citizenshipbriefly before her death in 2010. According to a new law passedafter the uprising, candidates won't qualify if their spouses orparents hold a foreign nationality. Former foreign minister now leading race With the three out, the top contenders in the race are seen to beformer foreign minister Amr Moussa, moderate Islamist Abdel-MoneimAbolfotoh and the Brotherhood's backup candidate, Mohammed Morsi.Voting begins May 23-24. Many have questioned the independence of the commission, holdoversfrom the Mubarak era appointed to the panel by the country'smilitary rulers. The presidential elections are the final stage of a turbulenttransition, managed by a council of generals who took over fromMubarak. The generals promised to hand over power by end of Juneafter a president is elected. The writing of the country's new constitution remains an explosiveissue. Secular and liberal groups fear an overly Islamist charter,the military wants to preserve its privileged position, and a panelformed by parliament has been suspended. The generals said over the weekend the constitution should bedrafted before a president is elected, raising concern that theelections might be postponed if the document is not ready in time. 'We want to see a fair and transparent process' U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner echoed the concerns incomments to reporters Tuesday. "Our concern is that we want to see a fair and transparent processmoving forward and a successful election and handover of power to acivilian government along the time frame that the (militarycouncil) has already laid out," he said. The three hopefuls had been the most polarizing figures in therace. Suleiman raised alarm among many Egyptians because he was acentral figure in Mubarak's authoritarian regime, which last year'suprising had sought to uproot. El-Shater raised the fears ofliberals who feared a monopoly of power by the Brotherhood, whichis already the strongest faction in parliament with nearly 50 percent of seats. El-Shater told a crowd of his supporters after the decision thathis disqualification is a sign that Mubarak's regime is stillalive. "We will not allow the revolution to be stolen from us," he said ina speech aired on the group's TV channel Misr 25. "The enemies ofthe revolution and the remnants of Mubarak's regime and theauthorities that he formed before he left are still here runningthe country's affairs." Threat of a rally and sit-in The group said it will participate in a rally this weekend againstthe military, and el-Shater said it could turn into a sit-in toprotest against what he said were attempts by the military topreserve Mubarak-style rule. The tone shows the increasing tension between the Brotherhood andthe ruling generals. The Brotherhood had previously stayed out ofanti-military protests organized by the youth groups that led lastyear's uprising, in the hope that it could turn its political gainsunder the military-run transition into real power. "If any party whether (the ruling military) or the electioncommission or security agencies imagine that using Mubarak's oldways will lead to our defeat or stop us, it is a dream that willnot be realized," he said as his supporters chanted, "Down withmilitary rule." Since Mubarak's fall in February last year, the Brotherhood hadpromised not to field a candidate. But after realizing thelegislature it dominates was powerless in the face of the country'smilitary rulers, the group nominated el-Shater late last month. The entry of Mubarak's ex-spy chief Suleiman into the race was seenas a response to the Brotherhood's decision. He said he wanted toprevent Egypt from coming under Islamist rule, and his security andintelligence credentials galvanized many of those fearing theIslamists. But his entry also offended the groups behind theuprising and the Brotherhood who saw the return of Mubarak's formerregime officials bid as an "offence" to their revolt. The decision has taken much of the heat out of the race, and couldforce Islamists to find a consensus candidate to rally behind. TheBrotherhood's replacement candidate, Morsi, who is the head of thegroup's political party, is less known and less powerful thanel-Shater. 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