2/19/2010 6:09:30 AM
Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, appears likely to receive a hero's welcome on his return to Egypt.
ElBaradei, who arrives in Cairo on Friday, is seen as a potential presidential candidate and has repeatedly called for democratic change in Egypt since stepping down from his UN post.
One local opposition newspaper printed flight details for his arrival under the headline "Baradei Returns" to rally people to meet him at the airport.
Security sources, quoted by the AFP news agency, said authorities were poised to ban any gatherings that marked the return of the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Two members of opposition group the April 6 Movement have already been arrested for organising a reception for ElBaradei and distributing leaflets encouraging people to attend, Egyptian media reported.
Election hopes
Since November, ElBaradei has in several newspaper interviews pointedly refused to rule out standing in next year's presidential election as a challenger to Hosni Mubarak, the incumbent.
But ElBaradei has made his candidacy conditional on the unlikely prospect of wide-ranging institutional and political reforms to ensure a clean election.
Electoral law also requires him to be a member of an authorised political party, a condition that he does not currently fulfil.
Mubarak, who has ruled for three decades, has not said if he plans to run in 2011 but most Egyptians speculate that if he bows out he will seek to hand power to his son Gamal.
Both men deny any such plans.
Online support
ElBaradei has found online the support of thousands of people who are tired of Mubarak's rule.
AbdulRahman Yusuf, who runs a Facebook social networking site group called "ElBaradei for Presidency of Egypt 2011", said the group would work in the streets and over the internet to build backing for ElBaradei.
"Our aim is to bring together activists on the ground who can galvanise a popular base through peaceful means," he said.
"We do not seek to whip up a frenzy. We seek amendments to the constitution."
