Following are excerpts from an interview with former IAEA director Mohammad ElBaradei, which aired on BBC Arabic TV on June 29, 2010.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/0/0/0/0/0/0/2540.
Mohammad ElBaradei: "The Egyptian people wants to change and is capable of generating change, but it still needs to break the barrier of fear, and to overcome the state of despair in which it has been for decades. [...]
"If you make peaceful change impossible, you cannot expect the people not to respond. [...]
"I want peaceful change towards a democratic regime. As I've said in the past, a woman cannot be half pregnant. A regime is either democratic or non-democratic. The current Egyptian regime is totally non-democratic. Therefore, taking part in the so-called 'political process' in Egypt legitimizes this non-democratic regime." [...]
Interviewer: "You are talking about legitimizing the regime. It is as if you are saying that Mubarak's 30-year regime is illegitimate."
Mohammad ElBaradei: "It is non-democratic."
Interviewer: "Illegitimate or non-democratic?"
Mohammad ElBaradei: "It is non-democratic, and a regime that is not democratic lack legitimacy, because legitimacy stems from the acceptance of the people." [...]
Interviewer: "Dr. ElBaradei, you have often criticized Egypt recently because of the Freedom Flotilla and the situation in Gaza. Will your criticism of Israel on these issues make you demand the revocation of the Israeli-Egyptian peace accord?"
Mohammad ElBaradei: "One cannot answer that with a simple 'yes' or 'no.'"
Interviewer: "So this is a possibility?"
Mohammad ElBaradei: "The policy of Israel aims to eliminate the Palestinian cause. We have been witnessing the elimination of the Palestinian cause for the past 30 years, yet we continue to talk about the peace process." [...]
