“Police officers were on a routine patrol in Rod al-Farag when they heard gunshots and went to inspect. One policeman was caught in a gunfight and was shot dead,” a senior official told AFP.
The incident, which took place on Tuesday night, “was not related to the election, this was a regular fight,” he said.
Earlier, security officials said the policeman was shot dead in a gunfight between supporters of two presidential candidates outside a polling station in Rod al-Farag, and another was injured in the same fight.
Voting over two days is taking place at 13,000 polling stations, with initial results expected on Sunday. Voting ends at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) on both days.
When Shafiq, 70, arrived to vote in Cairo, protesters hurled shoes and stones at him. “The coward is here. The criminal is here,” they cried. “Down with military rule.” Like Mubarak, Shafiq commanded the air force before joining the cabinet.
The former prime minister, who was appointed days before Mubarak fell and who quit soon afterwards amid protests against him in Tahrir Square, is one of the most divisive candidates.
He appeals to those who want a strongman to restore order, but others see him as embodying everything they want changed.
Moussa, 75, left Mubarak’s cabinet a decade before the uprising. At the Arab League, he built on his popularity with criticism of Israel and U.S. policy in the region. Yet some still brand him a remnant of the old order.
For many of those who cannot stomach Islamists or Mubarak-era ministers, the favourite is leftist Hamdeen Sabahy, 57.
Independent monitors noted minor infringements in Wednesday’s voting, such as campaigning outside polling stations, but said they did not undermine its validity.