ElBaradei angles for role in transition

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday he is not part of negotiations in Egypt but wants to be "an agent for change."

"I have not been invited to take part in the negotiation," the former international nuclear monitor told NBC's "Meet the Press," and he questioned the talks between Vice President Omar Suleiman and some opposition groups.

"The process is opaque. … The process is managed by the outgoing regime without the involvement of the new opposition or the rest of the people."

ElBaradei said President Hosni Mubarak's resignation has become "almost an obsession by many people who have demonstrated, the young people."

He called for a one-year transitional government before a new constitution and free elections.

Asked whether he wanted to lead such a transition, ElBaradei said, "I want to be an agent for change. … If I can do that in a peaceful, orderly way with every other Egyptian, I'll be absolutely happy and I have fulfilled the mission of my life."

On the same program, Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Sameh Shoukry said, "Certainly, things as they were are over."