Egyptian opposition supporters defy ban to welcome ElBaradei home

AFP - Hundreds of Egyptian opposition supporters defied warnings to welcome home Nobel Peace laureate and former UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Friday amid hopes he will run for president.

Chanting the national anthem, the crowd was so large that it twice prevented ElBaradei from exiting Cairo airport after he flew in from Vienna following 12 years at the helm of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Around 1,500 people thronged the airport and wellwishers held up banners that read "Yes, ElBaradei president of Egypt" and "ElBaradei for presidency of Egypt 2011."

Others shouted "ElBaradei 100 percent, he will bring to account the thieves" in reference to alleged corruption during the 29-year-old regime of President Hosni Mubarak.

The crowd had gathered even though security sources said on Thursday that measures would be taken to prevent any "illegal demonstrations" by ElBaradei's supporters at the airport.

Two members of the April 6 Movement opposition group, Ahmed Maher and Amr Ali, were arrested Wednesday for organising a reception for the 67-year-old ElBaradei. But Maher was among the crowd at the airport on Friday.

ElBaradei, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with the IAEA in 2005, has repeatedly called for democratic change in Egypt since stepping down as the agency's head in November.

On the eve of his return, he reaffirmed his determination to "do everything I can for Egypt to advance toward democracy and economic and social progress."

"I hope to be an instrument for change," the long-time international civil servant said in an interview with Egypt's Dream TV.

"I am ready to throw myself into Egyptian political life on the condition that there are free elections, and the first step toward that would be a constitutional amendment under which I can be a candidate and others as well."

Egyptian author Alaa al-Aswani, who wrote the internationally acclaimed book "The Yacoubian Building," was at the forefront of the wellwishers at Cairo airport.

"It is a positive thing for us to have a respectable figure to join the Egyptian people who are struggling for the sake of freedom and democracy," Aswani told AFP.

"The challenge that ElBaradei wants to face with us is to work for a constitution that will give the Egyptian people their freedom."

Mubarak, 81, will complete his fifth term in office next year and his son Gamal is often cited as his potential successor.

The current constitution effectively bars an ElBaradei candidacy.

It requires candidates to have been for at least one year a leading member of a party that has been in existence for at least five years, which is not the case with ElBaradei.

And for him to run as an independent, he would have to be endorsed by at least 250 elected officials, including 65 members of the National Assembly, 25 members of the Consultative Council (senate) and 10 members of municipal councils.

All those bodies are dominated by Mubarak's ruling National Democratic Party.

Since November, ElBaradei has pointedly refused in newspaper interviews to rule out standing in next year's presidential election against Mubarak, who has been in power since 1981.

Despite the difficulties facing his standing for Egypt's top job, the very possibility of his candidacy has triggered a vicious campaign against him in the official press.

State-owned dailies have accused him of being out of touch with the nation's affairs after his long years working abroad.

ElBaradei left Egypt 27 years ago to work for the United Nations. He headed the IAEA for 12 years until his retirement.