Political reformist and former UN nuclear chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, has accused Egyptian authorities of planting a listening device in his campaign headquarters. His campaign discovered "a group of listening devices which were planted in the office of the campaign's general coordinator, the poet Abdel Rahman Youssef, and of which the campaign was able to determine the hidden location," ElBaradei said. Campaign personnel are now "notifying the Attorney General to request an investigation into this scandal which has attacked the rule of law and violated the personal privacy of citizens," ElBaradei continued on his Facebook page. The discovery is evidence of a broader agenda aimed at muzzling the Egyptian political opposition, he added, which involves political espionage. "There is a security plot to infiltrate the campaign and destroy it from within as the regime usually deals with political forces and opposition movements, in a step that reflects the regime's insistence on oppression and on dispersing opposition voices and the demand for democratization." ElBaradei accused security authorities of seeking to "sow discord and break the ranks" of his campaign via the infiltrated agents. He also blamed the security for leaked campaign information. The campaign "has confirmed that there are some infiltrators from the security authorities, who have been transferring news of the campaign to security and/or recording activists during meetings," the Facebook message said. Egyptian authorities have restricted ElBaradei's political aspirations through limiting TV appearances, arresting supporters, and instructing hotels not to rent him rooms for nearby meetings, his campaign alleges. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
