Egypt crisis: Mohamed ElBaradei says he will run for presidency

[nadinbrzezinski]

Source: The Telegraph

By Richard Spencer, Cairo 9:30PM GMT 02 Feb 2011

Mr ElBaradei, who had previously proposed himself only as an interim leader, told The Daily Telegraph in an interview that he would stand "if people want me to" in elections in September or before. He said that the dramatic violence in central Cairo had shown he was right not to negotiate with Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Speaking in the garden of his home in an exclusive villa compound on the western outskirts of Cairo, Mr ElBaradei made clear the part he thought he would play in the continuing upheavals in Egypt. He said he wanted to set Egypt on track to a "new democratic future" as an agent of change and described Mr Mubarak's regime as "a bunch of thugs".

Mr ElBaradei has come under criticism for "parachuting in" to a revolution already started and faced demands to play a more active role in the protests. He flew back to Egypt only on Thursday from Austria, where he was head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna until last year.

Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8299270/Egypt-crisis-Mohamed-ElBaradei-says-he-will-run-for-presidency.html

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Well this is not surprising to me.

[Suich]

1. Don't know him...is this good news or bad news?

:shrug:

I just read that Bolton thinks he's a "dilettante" and Ari Fleischer said he's a "bad guy." I guess I just answered my own question!!!

[karynnj]

4. One thing - which is not relative to Egypt - is that he came close to helping John Kerry win

Do you remember in late October when a report came out that the US failed to guard a known ammo dump (Al Qaaqaa) in Iraq. John Kerry was incredible speaking of how this ammo was killing and maiming "our kids" and innocent Iraqis. There were few times where Kerry's real self was able to get past a media working hard to distort who he was. His outrage was very real and his concern for the soldiers was obviously heart felt. That was when Kerry's numbers rose and he started to pull ahead --- before the OBL tape that reversed the direction.

That report was released by El Baradei and the ammo dump had been maintained by the AEIE until Bush kicked them out. (I had forgotten his involvement - but there are several nasty RW sites saying that he did this to steal the US election and that it was fraud. In fact, in 2004, a reporter who had been embedded with the US army had video that proved the report was 100% accurate.)

Other than that, I have seen him on panels speaking of the Middle East and he was clearly a moderate. The other thing is that I do not think he would be a puppet of anyone - the US included.

[TBF]

5. If Bolton and Fleischer dislike him than I'm thinking he's ok. nt

[Bryn]

2. On facebook there are some arabs who don't want him

They just want a good leader who understands poor/working/regular people. They feel ElBaradei is too elite and if he becomes president things would go back to being the same ... elite way.

[xchrom]

3. recommend

[TBF]

6. K&R nt