Egyptian opposition leader urges election boycott

9/06/2010 03:20:15 PM

CAIRO – Egypt's leading democracy advocate is urging Egyptians to boycott November's parliamentary election, saying it is certain to be rigged.

Nobel laureate Mohammed ElBaradei told young supporters Monday that participating in the vote would go against "the national will" to transform Egypt into a genuine democracy.

ElBaradei leads a burgeoning young opposition to President Hosni Mubarak's nearly three-decade authoritarian rule.

He pressed Egyptians to peacefully bring down what he called a decaying regime and threatened a campaign of civil disobedience. Egypt's opposition groups are fractured, however, and are divided over the issue of a boycott.

ElBaradei is a former chief of the U.N. nuclear agency and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.