CAIRO: Dr. Mohamed el-Baradei, former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and likely presidential hopeful, was hosted for 35 minutes by the popular Islamic speaker, Amr Khaled, on the program "Bokra Ahla" (Tomorrow is better). This was el-Baradei's first appearance on Egyptian television in years. In a quick response to what happened on the show a number of el-Baradei's supporters expressed their anger on Facebook that the show, which was supposed to be screened at 11pm, got pushed to 12 pm. They were also upset that el-Baradei got to speak for only 35 minutes. They, however, praised the show's discussion on a slum development project proposed by el-Baradei. Amr Khaled defended the head of television, Nehal Kamal, who was accused of preventing el-Baradei from appearing on Egyptian television. Khaled argued that Kamal wanted to operate on the principle of giving equal opportunities to presidential candidates. Commenting on how he felt after appearing on Egyptian television, el-Bardei said that it was course a beautiful feeling to be able to appear on Egyptian national television and talk about the future of Egypt. This was one of the results of the January 25 Revolution, added el-Baradei. Major General Tariq al-Mahdi called el-Baradei to apologize for the misunderstanding that occurred regarding preventing him from appearing on television. "You and I [Amr Khaled] were prevented in the past from appearing on television but I have now met with the commander in chief Tantawi and field masrshall Annan to discuss Egypt's future. I feel the future is bright, and that people want to liberate national television. Although we have a tough road ahead of us we cannot look back now," said el-Baradei.
