Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, while in Minya on Saturday, announced Muslim Brotherhood offices will be opened for National Association for Change (NAC) activities. ElBaradei also called on Wafd Party leaders to join the reform movement. The potential 2011 presidential contender met with Mohamed Saad al-Katatni, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood guidance bureau, Osama al-Ghazali Harb, president of the Democratic Front Party, and Kefaya's George Ishaq. At the meeting, ElBaradei exhorted opposition forces to gather five million signatures on his reform statement and to boycott the presidential election, if independent candidates are banned from competition. He also vowed his supporters will be organizing peaceful marches to pressure political reform throughout Egypt. ElBaradei described the 24 November parliamentary election as a “disgrace to Egypt.” Al-Katatni said the Brotherhood will unite with ElBaradei and the NAC against the Egyptian regime. Ishaq called on the attendees to restore the spirit of the 1919 revolution and urged political parties to withdraw their members from parliament, saying their presence legitimizes the regime. Security forces prevented three priests from attending ElBaradei's meeting in Minya, telling them their attendance would put them in danger, a source said. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
