ElBaradei issues long statement defending himself against media ‘lies’

Former Egyptian vice-president Mohamed ElBaradei released a long statement on Tuesday defending himself against what he considered a “smear campaign.”

In a statement issued on his official Facebook page, ElBaradei defended himself against alleged “lies” in the Egyptian media about his role in ousting Morsi until his resignation, his role as the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency “IAEA” and the invasion of Iraq.

He also revealed how he – and other political players — only knew about the detention of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi during their meeting with the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) on the morning of 3 July 2013.

“The options then became extremely limited and of course having early presidential elections was no longer an option,” he said, defending himself.

Having early presidential elections was among the main demands of the 30 June protestors who were demanding the ouster of Morsi.

“According to the facts, there was a detained president and millions in the squares protesting — my priority then was to avoid civil unrest and keeping it peaceful through the political transitional road map,” he said in his 13-point statement.

Mohamed ElBaradei was appointed as Egypt’s vice-president after the ouster of Morsi with Adly Mansour being appointed as interim president. ElBaradei resigned from his post on 14 August 2013 hours after the dispersal of the pro-Morsi sits-in by force.

ElBaradei stated that he had held talks with the pro-Morsi camp until 13 August 2013 in an effort have the sits-in dispersed peacefully. He also added that he expressed clearly his rejection to forcibly disperse the sits-in during the National Security Council meetings.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate also slammed how the media attacked him viciously after his resignation to the level of broadcasting his personal phone calls on TV in violation of the constitution and law in 2014.

ElBaradei, who has been living outside Egypt since his resignation in August 2013, has been more vocal on Twitter in the past couple of months, criticising current problems in Egypt.

He has been constantly under fire from some local media outlets who have accused him of working against the current government in Egypt.

Source: Ahram Online