Former International Atomic Energy Agency head and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei canceled his scheduled appearance on Meet the Press Sunday after Egypt’s interim president walked back statements that ElBaradei would be appointed interim prime minister. Meet the Press host David Gregory said that ElBaradei told him he had laryngitis and under a doctor’s orders not to do any television interviews.
Gregory also said that the Egyptian diplomat and Peace Prize winner expects to be named officially as leader as early as Sunday. NBC News’ Ayman Mohyeldin reported that protests have continued, and that supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi have been staging sit-ins demanding his reinstatement. Tthe current unrest has led to more than 100 deaths in the past week.
Former Egyptian ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy spoke to Gregory about the situation on the ground in Egypt. According to Fahmy, interim President Adly Mansour has been working to shore up the “widest possible support” for ElBaradei, and that he believed an announcement could come “within a day at most.”
He also insisted that military intervention was necessary in order to keep order among the millions of people who took to the streets to protest the Morsi government.
The Muslim Brotherhood, Morsi's political party, opposes ElBaradei’s appointment, and its supporters have clashed repeatedly with anti-Morsi demonstrators. Former ambassador Fahmy said that groups like the Muslim Brotherhood will have to be included in any future government, as will non-Islamist political parties.
“Neither side can have full control over Egypt,” he said.