CAIRO - An Egyptian Muslim cleric issued a fatwa (a religious edict) that Mohamed ElBaradei, the former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, should be killed for inciting sedition in the country. “According to Islamic rules, those who inciteEgyptians, including ElBaradei, against their rulers, represented in President (Hosni) Mubarak and the Government, should be killed,unless he did stop such incitement,”a statement issued by Sheikh Mohamed Amer, a low-profile hardline cleric. The statement, issued by a Salafist (fundamentalist) group's website, added that calls for disuniting the Egyptian people could have a very destructive impact if its inciters went unpunished. ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize laureate, returned to Egypt in February, as he joined the opposition calling for wide constitutional reforms and free elections. "Contemplating remarks by ElBaradei, will obviously show that he urges Egyptians to protest against their Muslim ruler whatever his deeds were," read the statement. Amer's fatwa was based on a hadith (saying) by the Prophet Mohamed, who urged Muslims to tolerate their ruler unless he became unfaithful. ElBaradei called for a campaign of civil disobedience against the Mubarak Government and a boycott of next year's presidential vote, warning that any crackdown on his civil disobedience push would lead to violence. His frequent calls for a mass boycott of the recent parliamentary elections were ignored by Egypt's opposition, including the banned but powerful Muslim Brotherhood and the weak but historically influential Al-Wafd Party. In October, the Brotherhood said it would take part in the polls, sidelining ElBaradei. Since then, he has largely kept a low public profile. However, he has jumped into the fray of local politics again after the parliamentary elections gave a sweeping victory to the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). ElBaradei refused to truly commit to the cause and spent more than half his time overseas. He has said he doesn't want to be regarded as the country's savior and views himself as a symbol for change and not a political leader.
