Egypt's ElBaradei Ends Bid for Presidency, Citing Continued Autocracy

WSJ ^ | JANUARY 14, 2012 | Matt Bradley

[Qbert]

CAIRO—Nobel Peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday withdrew his candidacy from Egypt's coming presidential race in protest over the autocratic governance that has persisted under Egypt's post-revolutionary military leadership.

Though Mr. ElBaradei wasn't considered among the top contenders for presidential elections scheduled for this spring, his global stature makes his pullout a symbolic blow to the military leadership and its often faltering stewardship of the country's transition to democracy.

Mr. ElBaradei's statement on Saturday marks the highest-profile censure of the military's governance since a leading group of generals, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, assumed power from President Hosni Mubarak when he stepped down amid nationwide protests...

[Snip]

Amr Moussa, a former minister of foreign affairs and the secretary-general of the Arab League until last May, remains the front-runner.

But ElBaradei voters are likely to get behind Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a moderate Islamist and former leader in the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, said Hala Mustafa, a liberal activist and ElBaradei supporter.

After Mr. ElBaradei left his position as head of the IAEA in 2009, he returned to Egypt in February 2010 to a hero's welcome from pro-democracy activists, who met him at the airport armed with signs decorated with Mr. ElBaradei's bespectacled face.

His supporters borrowed the rousing slogans of U.S. President Barack Obama, and posters with Mr. ElBaradei's face carried the slogans "Change" and "Yes, We Can."

Despite his popularity among a narrow class of liberals, the former diplomat struggled against a torrent of scathing criticism from the Mubarak regime. Commentaries in Egypt's state-run newspapers and television channels painted Mr. ElBaradei as an out-of-touch arriviste and a puppet of Western powers.

It was an impression that became a self-fulfilling prophecy—one that the soft-spoken Mr. ElBaradei and his lackluster presidential campaign were unable to shed.

[Qbert]

All part of Hussein Obama's master plan...

[Venturer]

I cannot think for the life of me why any sane person would want to be President of a country that just went through what Egypt did, and that will go through much more before it is settled.

Muslims cannot get along with each other, we know they will attack Christians when they get the opportunity and about half of them want to go to war with israel.

Add to that the problems with the Arab Palestinians who wnat to go to war with anybody they can think of but sure do hate anything that looks like work. 50 years as refugees is BS.they are permanent welfare recipients, who believe if they take over Israel they will be schitting in the high cotton, but in reality they will turn it into crap before the sun sits the first day.

[Olog-hai]

But ElBaradei voters are likely to get behind Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a moderate Islamist and former leader in the powerful Muslim Brotherhood …

Now the WSJ is trying to use that liberal oxymoron "moderate Islamist"?

This is the same ElBaradei that claimed that the MB is "not radical" and that their being radical was "a myth". He also threatened war with Israel, and said that Israel's peace agreement was with Mubarak and not Egypt.

[DJ MacWoW]

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[RicocheT]

Another “Arab Spring” so-called victory Obama will take credit for. Obama & co. stood on the sidelines and let Egypt get taken over by the radical Islamists, ignored the persecution of Christian Copts and the repudiation of the Israel-Egypt peace agreement. Obama’s foreign policy must be drafted by the Iranian Mullahs.

[ConservativeTeen]

Moderate Islamist, that’s the same as a moderate Communist or a moderate Nazi.