Klein Online

BLOG: White House statement will likely help Muslim Brotherhood gain immediate power in Egypt

Posted on November 30, 2011 at 1:20 PM EST

By Danette Clark

On Friday, President Obama publicly urged Egypt’s ruling military council to relinquish power to a civilian government “as soon as possible”, a move that will likely result in a weak civilian government dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Obama’s statement came shortly after 3 am on Friday to coincide with the Egyptian morning.

According to the New York Times, protesters then appeared to unite for the first time around a specific team of civilians whom they hope can lead the transition as a civilian “presidential council”.

Among those favored for appointment to the presidential council are three rival presidential contenders: Mohamed ElBaradei (above), a staunch supporter of the Brotherhood; Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader; and Hamdeen Sabahi, whose al-Karama party recently joined the Muslim Brotherhood-led Democratic Alliance.

It has been widely believed for some time that Mohamed ElBaradei will win upcoming elections and become the next Egyptian leader. Now, just two days after the White House’s call for the Egyptian military to resign power, ElBaradei offered himself as interim prime minister, an alternative to Kamal Ganzouri who was named by the ruling military council on Friday.

Despite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s persistent rants calling for the destruction of Israel, ElBaradei, as IAEA chairman, has for years defended Iran’s nuclear program as peaceful, thereby allowing them to continue to obtain nuclear capability.

ElBaradei sits on the board of George Soros’s International Crisis Group, which advocates dialogue with Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood’s violent Palestinian branch.