Egypts ElBaradei Quits as Vice-President Over Deaths

Egypt's interim vice president, Mohamed ElBaradei, resigned on Wednesday (August 14) after the security forces used force to crush protest camps of supporters of the deposed Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, but fellow liberals did not follow suit.

In a resignation letter to Interim President Adly Mansour, the former U.N. nuclear agency chief said: "The beneficiaries of what happened today are those who call for violence, terrorism and the most extreme groups.

ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize winner and co-leader of the secular National Salvation Front (NSF), was the most prominent liberal to endorse the military overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last month following mass protests.

Rumours of other officials' resignations spread but were denied. Deputy prime minister Ziad Bahaa El-Din, another senior NSF figure, said he had not quit but declined further comment on the political situation at this stage.

Military and diplomatic sources said ElBaradei had made clear in advance he would not stay on board if pro-Morsi protests were dispersed violently.

Although his departure was expected, it exposed disarray in the NSF, an umbrella organisation of six parties that is one of the main remaining civilian political forces after the ejection of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

Presented by Adam Justice