Presidential candidate Shafiq attacks ElBaradei

Egyptian presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq launched a verbal attack on former candidate Mohamed ElBaradei, saying he would nominate himself for presidency so "everyone would see the election results." In an interview on privately owned Egyptian channel CBC on Sunday, Shafiq criticised ElBaradei, who has said he considers Shafiq a former regime figure dubbing his nomination as "against the revolution". ElBaradei earlier withdrew his presidential bid, blaming the military council's handling of the transition period. Shafiq described his own history as "patriotic" and therefore "better" than ElBaradei's. He implied that during ElBaradei's tenure as nuclear chief for the United Nations contributed to the problems in Iraq since the US-led war began in 2003. Shafiq also warned ElBaradei against making any offensive remarks, saying his "punishment will be severe." Shafiq also refused to evaluate the ruling military council's performance, saying it had faced difficult circumstances in addition to not having enough information. However, he criticised the council’s schedule that put parliamentary elections ahead of writing a new constitution. Shafiq said he supported the armed forces' economic activities, which he said helped achieve self-sufficiency while also paying taxes. He stated the armed forces budget, currently confidential, should have oversight but only be made available to a limited number of government and parliamentary officials.