Opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei accuses U.S. of dropping the ball [View All]

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2011/01/egypt-opposition-mohamed-elbaradei-accuses-united-state-dropping-ball.html

Egyptian dissident Mohamed ElBaradei called the U.S. position on the Egyptian crisis a disappointment and condemned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's early Satruday morning speech as "almost an insult to the intelligence of the Egyptian people."

ElBaradei also said in an interview with the English-language segment of France 24 that he would continue to speak out against Mubarak's regime, whether he was under house arrest or not, until the president leaves office.

"I will continue to participate in whatever it takes to make sure that the Mubarak regime should leave," he said. "I think that there is a consensus here in Egypt in every part of society that this is a regime that is dictatorial, that has failed to deliver on economic, social or political fronts and that we need a new beginning, an Egypt that is free, that is democratic and we need to go through a transitional period."

(snip)
"What is ... very disappointing to the Egyptian people is the message coming from the U.S., which is saying that we are going to work with the Egyptian people and with the government," he said. "Well, you have to make a choice. This is an authoritarian government and on the other hand the people have been deprived of their freedom for 58 years."