El-Baradei: NAC Will Cooperate with MB and Egyptian Regime is Nervous

El-Baradei: NAC Will Cooperate with MB and Egyptian Regime is Nervous

Former Head of IAEA, Mohammed El-Baradei, has stated that the National
Association for change (NAC) is discussing the urge for change in Egypt, possible
cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood in the next election and the prospects of
driving autocrat, Hosni Mubarak, out of office.

In an interview with Spiegel, the first since his return to Egypt, Egyptian Nobel
Peace Prize recipient, Mohamed El-Baradei, said: "By my absence, I wanted to
show that I would not take part in this farce. I did not take part in past votes
either. That was why it was right to boycott this vote, as most other Egyptians
did. The official results are the product of severe manipulation".

"The regime is more desperate and more nervous than it has ever been before
during the 29 years that (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak has been in power,"
said the former head of IAEA, adding that the regime also fears the presidential
elections next year. It can no longer ignore the increasing calls for change. He
noted that the once proud and great state of Egypt now numbers among the so-
called failed states, and is compared to Haiti, Burma and Sudan.

El-Baradei maintained that the Egyptian opposition has become more radical than
ever before, and Egyptians are determined to bring the situation to an end. But
the regime has shown what it is capable of; this time it (the regime) has been
more violent and made more arrests, thereby heightening the conflict.

"The next parliament will be dominated by the president’s party," he noted,
adding that it will function like the Duma in Moscow during the darkest days of
the Soviet era. Egypt is a self-sufficient, one-party regime that stays in power by
maintaining a draconian state of emergency.
 
El-Baradei noted that his candidature remains tied to demands for fair conditions
and that he will continue to fight for democratic change.