Bridge over the Nile

Is opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei negotiating with the Muslim Brotherhood? Well, something's going on:

Gamal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told DPA [news agency] that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak.

The group is also demanding an end to the draconian Emergency Laws, which grant police wide-ranging powers The laws have been used often to arrest and harass the Islamist group.

Nasser said his group would not accept any new government with Mubarak. On Saturday the Brotherhood called on President Mubarak to relinquish power in a peaceful manner following the resignation of the Egyptian cabinet.

Speaking to CNN later Sunday, ElBaradei said he had a popular and political mandate to negotiate the creation of a national unity government.

"I have been authorized -- mandated -- by the people who organized these demonstrations and many other parties to agree on a national unity government," he told CNN.

This from the BBC though:

[T]here were signs of disagreement within the opposition, with the largest group, the Muslim Brotherhood, appearing to go back on its endorsement of leading figure Mohamed ElBaradei as a negotiator with Mr Mubarak...

"Change is coming," promised Mr ElBaradei when he addressed the crowds.

Mr ElBaradei has been mandated by opposition groups to negotiate with the regime.

But a spokesman for the largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, appeared to reject this position.

"The people have not appointed Mohamed ElBaradei to become a spokesman of them," Mohamed Morsy told the BBC.

"The Muslim Brotherhood is much stronger than Mohamed ElBaradei as a person. And we do not agree on he himself to become representing [sic] this movement, the movement is represented by itself, and it will come up with a committee... to make delegations with any government."

And Barry Rubin:

As one shrewd analyst remarks, "al-Baradei being put in power by the Muslim Brotherhood is effectively like the `moderate' Miqati being put in power [as prime minister] in Lebanon by Hizballah.  What matters is that the Muslim Brotherhood and Hizballah are calling the shots." 

If you believe that al-Baradei, with no real political experience or any organized movement behind him, can dominate the Muslim Brotherhood, I have a bridge over the Nile I'll sell you. But it's even worse than that. It has been well-known in Egypt that much of al-Baradei's presidential campaign has been run by the Brotherhood. He's certainly not their puppet but to a considerable extent he is their pawn.

 

Comments

[Noga]

I watched yesterday fareed Zakaria's schmoozing with Elbaradei on CNN. He started his programme by giving us a summery of Egypt's history in which he said:

"The first Arab revolt was in 1916 against the Ottoman Empire that ruled most of the Arab lands. What is going on today in Tunisia and now Egypt is the second Arab revolt against the strong men who have ruled these lands for decades."

Really? What about 1952 Nasser's revolution?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamal_Abdel_Nasser#Revolution_of_1952

Zakaria just happened to drop this momentous milestone from his version of history.

As for ElBaradei, here is how he characterized the Muslim Brotherhood:

"You know, the Muslim Brotherhood has nothing to do with the Iranian model, has nothing to do with extremism, as we have seen it in Afghanistan and other places. The Muslim Brotherhood is a religiously conservative group. They are a minority in Egypt. They are not a majority of the Egyptian people, but they have a lot of credibility because all the other liberal parties have been smothered for 30 years. They are in favor of a federalist (ph) state. They are in favor of a wording on the base of constitution that has red lines (ph) that every Egyptian has the same rights, same obligation, that the state in no way will be a state based on religion.

And I have been reaching out to them. We need to include them. They are part of the Egyptian society, as much as the Marxist party here. I think this myth that has been perpetuated and sold by the regime has no -- has no iota of reality.

As you know, Fareed, I've worked with Iranians, I've worked here. There is 100 percent difference between the two societies."

Isn't that a nice lullaby to put us all to sleep?

And then, there is this, such self sacrifice:

"ELBARADEI: I'm willing to do whatever I can do to save this country, Fareed. You know, this is not my priority. I have a lot of interests in global issues, as you know, humanity, inequity, arms control, and I continue to be active on all these issues. But if my people here, the Egyptian people want me to serve as a bridge from authoritarian system into a democracy, I will not let them down. That is -- I owe it to them here."

He really doesn't want all this headache but he will consent to carry the burden, if asked!

[Chris Taus]

Egypt is huge. If Islamic groups like the Muslim Brotherhood take over, guard your portfolio with great care. I strongly suspect the markets will be rocked by all this. Hope like hell I'm wrong. And yet again we can see how the malevolent religious ideology of a seventh-century Arab fraud can have dire effects on the world down to the present day.

[sackcloth and ashes]

Am I the only one to find it ironic that the MB's spokesman is called 'Gamal Nasser'?