A handful of prominent opposition figures on Tuesday paid a visit to Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and potential candidate in Egypt's 2011 presidential elections. Wafd Party President Mustafa el-Tawil said he was eager to meet with ElBaradei, even though the the ex-IAEA chief had ruled out joining any political parties. "ElBaradei said he would run as an independent candidate, which is fine," said El-Tawil, "because I agree with his agenda for constitutional and social reform." "We came to listen to ElBaradei's suggestions for reform and to formulate a unified strategy for all opposition forces," said Hassan Nafea, coordinator of a popular campaign opposed to the transfer of presidential power from President Hosni Mubarak to his son, Gamal. George Ishak, leader of the Kefaya pro-democracy movement, for his part, also expressed an interest in forming a coalition of opposition movements based on a common platform of political reform. Abdel Rahman Youssef, coordinator of a popular campaign promoting ElBaradei for president, said: "We will hold a closed meeting for one hour, after which ElBaradei will meet with 20 young Facebook bloggers that support him." According to Mohamed Habib, former deputy general guide of the Muslim Brotherhood opposition movement, ElBaradei's return to Egypt last week--and his well-publicized demands for constitutional reform--"have given Gamal Mubarak and the ruling party's Policies Secretariat quite a headache." In a related development, Voice of America--a broadcasting service funded by the US government--announced on its website Tuesday that ElBardei was trying to "plant the seeds of reform" in an atmosphere otherwise marked by corruption and political stagnation. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
