Reformer ElBaradei plans Egypt return

Egypt’s leading pro-reform advocate and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei plans to return to his country to take part in anti-government protests, his spokesman said today.

The spokesman, Abdul-Rahman Samir, said Mr ElBaradei is expected to land in Cairo this evening and will join protesters on the street at a planned anti-regime demonstration tomorrow.

Since Mr ElBaradei – former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency - first returned last year to his native Egypt from service abroad, he has emerged as a prime challenger to President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, creating a wave of support from reformists.

Social networking sites have called for a mass rally in the Egyptian capital tomorrow after two days of Egyptian protests this week left six people dead.

Baton-wielding police responded with tear gas and beatings in a crackdown that has shown no tolerance for dissent.

Egypt’s largest anti-government protests in years echo the uprising in Tunisia, threatening to destabilise the leadership of one of the most important US allies in the Arab world.

The ability of the protesters to sustain the momentum for two days in the face of such a heavy-handed police response was a rare feat in this country.

One protester and a policeman were killed yesterday, bringing the two-day death toll to six.

About 860 people have been rounded up, and Facebook, Twitter and mobile phones - key to organising protests – have been disrupted.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Egypt to adopt broad reforms and not crack down on the anti-government crowds.

She urged the Mubarak regime to “take this opportunity to implement political, economic and social reforms that will answer the legitimate interests of the Egyptian people”.

Still, there was no indication that Mr Mubarak, who has ruled with an iron fist for nearly 30 years, intends to relinquish power or make democratic or economic concessions, and no sign he would rein in his security forces.