Sobhi Saleh, lawyer and member of the Constitutional Amendments Committee, has quashed reports that the Muslim Brotherhood group backs the former International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei as a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections.

Saleh, a former MP of the Islamic group, said that the news circulated by Egyptian daily newspapers Al-Shrouk and El-Dostour is groundless.

“When I was asked, by one of the attendees, about ElBaradei’s possibilities as a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections, I said he, as an Egyptian, has the right to contend the post, but the people will say the final word,” Saleh said.

“Everyone must be accepted by everyone; we do not monopolise religion, and the language of double-crossing and division is odious,” said the former lawmaker.  “Do not listen to temptation and to those who want to make machination between the people and the army and between the people and judiciary,” he added.

“At a rally attended by more than 5000 people in Sohag Governorate in Upper Egypt, the leading Muslim Brotherhood member Sobhi Saleh said that the Islamist opposition group would support ElBaradei in the upcoming presidential elections,” Al-Shrouk daily newspaper claimed in today’s edition.