Keeping watch on Baradei

The document above has been posted on the internet by several Egyptian bloggers, including Amr Salama and Wael Abbas. It appears to be the start of a four-page memo from the interior ministry, discussing plans for surveillance of Mohamed ElBaradei and his family by state security.

ElBaradei, the Egyptian former head of the IAEA and a Nobel peace prize winner, angered the Mubarak regime recently by saying he might run in the 2011 presidential election (where Mubarak's son, Gamal, has already been earmarked for victory).

The document has not been authenticated but another Egyptian blogger, Zeinobia, says she would not be surprised or shocked if it's genuine: the same thing happened to Ayman Nour and Noman Gomaa, candidates in the last presidential election.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 24 December 2009.