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Baradei: Security forces threatened me during Rabaa sit-in

November 15, 2016 at 3:37 pm

Former Egyptian Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei, 15 November 2016 [Ashraf Amra/Apaimages]

In a post on Facebook, former interim Vice President of Egypt, Dr Mohammed El-Baradei, speaks of the threats he received when he tried to break up the Rabaa sit-ins peacefully in 2013. Below if the text from his post:

On 6 August, when I was vice president, I was accused by a prominent writer in a long article published in a government owned newspaper that I am “a man who poses danger to the people and the state (Al-Akhbar newspaper). In the evening of that same day, a fierce attack was waged against me on TV by some “guests”.

This was then followed by a message from “sovereign agencies” on the following day in which I was told that what happened was only “a warning” and that they “would destroy me” if I were to continue my attempts to work for a peaceful disbanding of the sit-in at Rabaa and in other places or for a formula of national reconciliation.

On 14 August, after the start of the use of force to disband the rallies, the “national forces” were swept by hysteria. Even those who call themselves the elite, including some revolution youth, strongly welcomed the use of violence and harshly criticised me because I submitted my resignation immediately after learning that force had been used, because I refuse to bear any responsibility for a decision I did not take part in making, and one that I objected to because of my conviction that at the time a specific conception was crystallising about peaceful alternatives for healing the schism.

At that moment I became certain, rather sadly, that in such a climate there was no room for me to participate in public work and that I would not be able to swim alone against the current. Therefore, my best option was to stay away from a scene that conflicted with my vision and my conscience.