Claims that a democratic Egypt “will become hostile” to Israel and the US are “hype”
Leading Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei said that claims that a democratic Egypt “will become hostile” to Israel and the US are “hype” has pledged that Egypt will not be hostile to Israel after President Hosni Mubarak leaves power. "The hype that once Egypt becomes a democracy, it will become hostile to the US and hostile to Israel - I mean, these are the two hypes and are fictions," he said in an interview with CBS News overnight Wednesday. ElBaradei also said he will "never get into a dialogue while Mubarak is in power.""Because all what you [by negotiating with Mubarak] do is give that regime a legitimacy, which in my view, they have lost," he added. "But more importantly - I don't think he understand what democracy means. I don't think he understands that he really needs to, you know, let go." Millions of Egyptians have taken to the streets across the crisis-hit country since January 25, demanding that Mubarak step down. The unprecedented protests have sparked concerns over a possible energy crisis in Israel given the prospects of a new, Islamic government in Egypt, which supplies some 40 percent of Israel's natural gas. Meanwhile, the International Network for Rights and Development said that three Israeli planes landed at Cairo's Mina International Airport on Saturday, carrying equipment for use in dispersing and suppressing large crowds, a Press TV correspondent reported. According to the report, Egyptian security forces received the cargo on three Israeli planes, which were allegedly carrying a large supply of internationally proscribed gas to disperse crowds. Israel has also allowed Egypt to deploy its troops to the Sinai Peninsula despite a bilateral agreement, under which Egypt has been only allowed to station police forces in the region. Tel Aviv said the move was to help Cairo prevent a revolution in Egypt, where people have been protesting Mubarak's regime for ten consecutive days despite warnings and the precautionary deployment of the army.ElBaradei Allays US, Israel Fears
