The banned Muslim Brotherhood announced Saturday it would fully support former chief of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei in his campaign to amend the Egyptian Constitution as he declared in return the group was the largest legal political faction in Egypt. "We are going to collect signatures from all classes of the Egyptian society in order to support ElBaradei's campaign to amend the Constitution and reform the political system in Egypt," said Mohamed Saad el-Katatni, the head of the Brotherhood's parliamentary bloc. He added, in a press conference with ElBaradei sitting beside him after closed talks with the group members, that this would be a first step to back him. "We will back his peaceful approach for change," el-Katatni said, pointing out that his group agrees with the changes ElBaradei demands. "The Brotherhood is a partner with ElBaradei in the call for change," the Islamist MP said. Of his part, ElBaradei, a potential presidential candidate, said the Muslim Brotherhood, banned since 1954, was the only legal political faction in this country. "The Brotherhood is a model of the strong opposition in Egypt's Parliament and street. It has a legal standing that the ruling party," ElBaradei said. The Muslim Brotherhood controls fifth of the seats in the People's Assembly (the Lower House of Egypt's Parliament), which is dominated by the ruling National Democratic party. ElBaradei has said he may run in the 2011 presidential vote if there are constitutional reforms.
