ElBaradei considers Muslim Bros. alliance

CAIRO, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A possible partnership with the Muslim Brotherhood might be a way to get Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak out of office, Mohammed ElBaradei said.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Egyptian opposition leader said in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel he was avoiding the political scene in Cairo because he felt it was a sham.

"By my absence, I wanted to show that I would not take part in this farce. I did not take part in past votes either," he said. "That was why it was right to boycott this vote, as most other Egyptians did. The official results are the product of severe manipulation."

The Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups in Egypt accuse the ruling National Democratic Party of stuffing ballot boxes in recent parliamentary elections that saw a resounding victory of the ruling party.

ElBaradei led early calls for a boycott of the parliamentary vote, though the Muslim Brotherhood took part in the first round of elections in November.

ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the next Egyptian government would be controlled almost exclusively by the NDP as the country prepares for presidential elections in 2011.

ElBaradei, mentioned as a possible challenger to Mubarak, said his organization was considering a partnership with the Muslim Brotherhood to encourage political reform.

"The religious-conservative Muslim Brotherhood and my own National Association for Change will be working together to bring about change," he told Der Spiegel.