Egypt crisis: Mohamed ElBaradei says he will run for presidency

The Telegraph



Mr ElBaradei, who had previously proposed himself only as an interim leader, told The Daily Telegraph in an interview that he would stand "if people want me to" in elections in September or before. He said that the dramatic violence in central Cairo had shown he was right not to negotiate with Hosni Mubarak's regime.

Speaking in the garden of his home in an exclusive villa compound on the western outskirts of Cairo, Mr ElBaradei made clear the part he thought he would play in the continuing upheavals in Egypt. He said he wanted to set Egypt on track to a "new democratic future" as an agent of change and described Mr Mubarak's regime as "a bunch of thugs".

Mr ElBaradei has come under criticism for "parachuting in" to a revolution already started and faced demands to play a more active role in the protests. He flew back to Egypt only on Thursday from Austria, where he was head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna until last year......................