CAIRO
Vice-President for International Relations Mohamed ElBaradei has raised the possibility of a "safe exit" for Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including ousted President Mohamed Morsi, as long as they are not implicated in "serious crimes."
"Morsi is in a place to protect him. There are charges levied against him. I think once we get the violence down and start a dialogue, a lot of these things could be checked," ElBaradei said in a Friday interview with The Washington Post.
"We aren't going to intervene with a court order, but there is a lot of room to see how we deal with possibly a safe exit for all the Muslim Brotherhood leadership who are not really involved in serious crimes," he added.
When asked about a possible safe exit for other leading group members, ElBaradei said, "This is on the table."
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was overthrown by the powerful military on July 3 after mass demonstrations against his regime.
Since then, he has not been seen in public and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Judicial authorities have ordered Morsi detained for 15 days pending investigation into charges that, while in office, he had conspired with the Gaza-based Hamas movement to carry out "hostile acts" inside Egypt.
Morsi also faces charges of involvement in attacks on police facilities and personnel, helping prisoners – including himself – escape from jail, sabotaging public property, and abducting security officers and soldiers.
ElBaradei said he would like to see the charges against Morsi dropped "if they are not very serious."
"I would like to see a possible pardon as a part of a grand package. Because the fate of the country is much more important," he said.
ElBaradei said that army chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi understood that there must be a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Egypt.
"He understands that there has to be a political solution. But of course he has a responsibility to protect the country in terms of security. And the army is on the edge," ElBaradei told The Washington Post.
The vice-president denied that al-Sisi, who also serves as defense minister, was considering a presidential run.
"You see al-Sisi's picture everywhere, and it's good that he is not thinking of running for president. It's good that he does not want to have the army run the country," he said.
"But people in a national emergency look for power, and the power rests with the army right now," he added.
ElBaradei said Egyptian authorities were seeking to avoid using force to break up ongoing pro-Morsi demonstrations.
"That's exactly what we want to avoid. Being harsh is not a solution," he said. "Understanding what we need to do and how you achieve social inclusion and political stability is more important. There's a lot of high emotions here and a lot of anger. That's not where we want to go."
"We want to go into more acceptance of diversity of different views," he added. "That's the only way to achieve stability. What we need to do right now number one, of course, is to make sure that we stop the violence. And there is a lot of violence."
ElBaradei stressed the need to engage in dialogue with the Brotherhood to show the group that Morsi had "failed" to manage Egypt's affairs.
"Once we do that, we immediately have to go into a dialogue to ensure that the Brotherhood understand that Mr. Morsi failed," said ElBaradei. "But that doesn't mean that the Brotherhood should be excluded in any way."
"They should continue to be part of the political process, they should continue to participate in the rewriting of the constitution, in running for parliamentary elections and presidential elections," he added. "You have the Tea Party, and you have the American Civil Liberties Union. There is a big, wide gap, but they are able to live together under the constitution."
ElBaradei went on to deny any intention to run for president.
"No, my role will have been completed to put the country on the right track," he said. "I think I will have done what I can do, and a change of generation is needed here. I would like to continue to be a coach, rather than an active player, after we move through the transition period."
- US deputy secretary of state meets ElBaradei
US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns on Saturday met with Egyptian Vice-President for International Relations Mohamed ElBaradei.
The meeting came shortly after the senior US diplomat had met with leaders of the National Alliance for the Defense of Legitimacy (NADL), a coalition of Islamist parties supportive of ousted President Mohamed Morsi.
Participants declined to give statements after the meeting, which was attended by former ministers Mohamed Ali Beshr and Amr Darrag, Wasat Party spokesman Tareq al-Malt, and NADL member Nevin Malak.
Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed al-Beltagi, for his part, described the meeting within the context of his group's insistence on "the reinstatement of legitimacy."
Burns arrived in Cairo on Friday for his second visit to Egypt since Morsi's July 3 ouster by the powerful military after mass protests against his regime.
Earlier today, Burns met with Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmi to discuss recent developments in Egypt and bilateral relations.
On Sunday, the senior US diplomat is scheduled to meet with army chief and Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and interim President Adly Mansour.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
