ElBaradei supporters claim spying devices found in offices

Sat, 06 Nov 2010

Cairo - Supporters of Mohamed ElBaradei, the Egyptian former UN nuclear watchdog chief turned opposition figure, published photos online Saturday of what they claimed were bugging devices found in their offices.

"I noticed for some time that there were leaks of some important information concerning our campaign and planned activities, and that [state] security would abort some these events prematurely," said one of the supporters on the group's website.

The allegations that the government may have been spying on the group come just three weeks ahead of scheduled parliamentary elections, set to take place on November 28.

The website, A Grassroots Campaign in Support of ElBaradei and Demands for Change, published photos of hearing devices they claimed were found in some of the offices of the group's members.

"Here we publish photos of these devices [and] accuse the security [services] of spying on the coordination of our campaign and our meetings," said the website, with three photos of a hearing device.

The group said that a complaint had been filed to the attorney general's office in Cairo after the devices were discovered.

Poet Abdul-Rahman Youssef told the German news agency dpa that the bugging device he found in his office was high-tech and that specialists confirmed it was similar to the ones used by Egyptian security and intelligence services.

Although ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna and an open opponent of the Mubarak government, does not have a political party, he has called on his supporters and other dissidents of the Egyptian government to boycott the upcoming elections.

It is expected that the ruling National Democratic Party, led by President Hosny Mubarak who has been in power for nearly 30 years, will retain majority in parliament, although there are several opposition groups vying for greater representation this time around.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/352275,spying-devices-found-offices.html.