Egyptian opposition form coalition around ElBaradei

 Politicians, who met at ElBaradei’s house on Tuesday to discuss the political process in Egypt, agreed to form a coalition to campaign for political reforms and changes to the constitution

 

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) late last year said he may run in the 2011 presidential elections only if Egypt amended its constitution to allow independents to run for president and to allow for greater judicial oversight of the polls

 

 Thousands of supporters greeted him at the airport when he returned to Cairo last Friday

 

The coalition agreed to form a legal committee to collect signatures from citizens to petition the government to change the constitution, sources informed since ElBaradei is constitutionally prohibited from running for the presidential elections

 

 

President Hosni Mubarak has ruled Egypt for nearly 30 years. There is much speculation that he is grooming his son Gamal, the head of the ruling party’s policymaking committee, for the job