ElBaradei tries to ease US,Israeli concerns

It is hype that once Egypt becomes a democracy,it will become hostile to US and Israel,says the Egyptian Opposition figure.

Leading Egyptian Opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei sought to ease Western fears that a post-Mubarak Egypt could turn against Israel and the United States.

“The hype that once Egypt becomes a democracy,it will become hostile to the US and hostile to Israel… these are the two hypes,and are fictions,” ElBaradei told CBS News.

ElBaradei,who earned a Nobel peace prize for his stewardship of the United Nations atomic watchdog,returned to Cairo shortly after protests erupted last month against President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

The veteran diplomat,who was well respected internationally but little known on the Egyptian street,has become a key opposition figure during days of brutal protests against Mubarak that have left many dead and injured.

In excerpts of his interview in Cairo with CBS anchor Katie Couric,ElBaradei again dismissed Vice President Omar Suleiman’s offer for dialogue,insisting Mubarak must step down first.

“I will never get into a dialogue while Mubarak is in power. Because all you do is you give that regime a legitimacy,which in my view,they have lost,” he said.

Faced with the biggest protests of his presidency,Mubarak is stubbornly holding onto power after appointing Suleiman as his first-ever vice president and announcing he will not seek re-election in September.

Story continues below this ad

“I don’t think he understand what democracy means. I don’t think he understands that he really needs to let go,” said ElBaradei.