El Baradei to run for president of Egypt?

CAIRO: Whether President Hosni Mubarak runs for re-election in 2011 or gives way to his son Gamal, an opposition party sees UN nuclear watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei as a strong contender for Egypt’s top job. A prominent candidate would give an unexpected boost to the opposition in its rivalry with Mubarak’s National Democratic Party, a pillar of the Egyptian political system. But several hurdles remain, not least of which is ElBaradei’s reluctance to run. To qualify for the race, Egyptian law states that a party candidate must have led or been a senior figure of a party for at least a year, and that the party itself must have been founded at least five years before the election. Members of the liberal Wafd opposition party’s youth wing have nominated ElBaradei to head the party so that he can become a candidate. “We have formed a popular committee to support ElBaradei,” said Mohammed Salah al-Sheikh, the support committee’s coordinator. afp

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