Mohamed ElBaradei favored to head transitional government in Egypt

PanARMENIAN.Net - Mohamed ElBaradei, a former U.N. nuclear agency chief, is favored to head a transitional government in Egypt after the military overthrew Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, military, political and diplomatic sources said on Thursday, July 4, according to Reuters.

ElBaradei, 71, was mandated by the main alliance of liberal and left-wing parties, the National Salvation Front, and youth groups that led anti-Morsi protests as negotiator with the armed forces and was present when armed forces commander General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the military takeover on Wednesday.

"ElBaradei is our first choice,'' a source close to the military high command said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. "He's an international figure, popular with young people and believes in a democracy that would include all political forces. He is also popular among some Islamist groups,'' the source said.

Political sources said ElBaradei, who won the Nobel peace prize for his work as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), would also be acceptable to Western governments that have bent over backwards to avoid calling the removal of Mursi and his Muslim Brotherhood a military coup.