Elbaradei: 'Egypt Will Explode'
CNN reports:
Major Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei warned of potential violent unrest after President Hosni Mubarak announced late Thursday he would not step down before September elections.
Mubarak "is gambling with his country" in order to stay at the helm, ElBaradei told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
He reiterated the message of his Twitter account, which read, "Egypt will explode. Army must save the country now."
Major clashes between the people and the army, which Egyptians traditionally believe has been on their side, would be devastating, said ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
ElBaradei's outlook had changed since hours before, when Egyptians, including thousands packed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, expected Mubarak to step down rather than delegate powers to Vice President Omar Suleiman.
The arrangement failed to mollify opposition leaders or those who have rallied in Tahrir Square for more than two weeks. Another mass protest is planned again Friday after prayer services.
"Mubarak is only one part of this regime," human rights activist Gigi Ibrahim, one of the Tahrir Square protesters, told CNN. "People have been here for 17 days, and they are not for Suleiman, either," Ibrahim said. "Mubarak has lost all legitimacy, and now him handing over the power to the vice president is as illegitimate as Mubarak being in power."
ElBaradei told CNN that Egyptians will not accept the new arrangement.
"Suleiman is considered to be an extension of Mubarak. They are twins. Neither of them is acceptable to the people," he said. "For the sake of their country, they should go."
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