Editing Mohamed ElBaradei (section)

===ElBaradei and U.S. relations===
ElBaradei, leader of the National Coalition for Change, has been a major voice for democratic change in Egypt since 2009 and was a significant leader during the 2011 protests.<ref>{{cite news|last=de Nesera|first=André|title=Former Egyptian Diplomat ElBaradei Face of Opposition to President Mubarak|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/former-egyptian-diplomat-elbaradei-face-of-opposition-to-president-mubarak-115126994/160186.html|work=Voice of America|date=2 February 2011}}</ref> However, he has a rocky history with the U.S. government and supports some policies that do not support current U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. During his tenure as Director General of the IAEA (1997–2009), for instance, ElBaradei downplayed claims of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program, which undermined U.S. efforts to press Iran over its safeguards violations.<ref>{{cite news|last=Pleming|first=Sue|title=Rice swipes at IAEA, urges bold action on Iran|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-usa-rice-idUSN1822732020070919|work=[[Reuters]]|date=19 September 2007}}</ref> According to a 3 July 2003 article in ''Time'' magazine, ElBaradei also maintained that Iraq's nuclear program had not restarted before the 2003 Iraq War, contradicting claims by the Bush administration. He told the German news magazine ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' on 12 July 2010 that he wanted to open the Gaza Strip – Egypt border and accused Israel of being the biggest threat to the Middle East because of their nuclear weapons.<ref>{{cite news|last=Follach|first=Erich|title=Interview with Mohammed ElBaradei|url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,705991,00.html|newspaper=Der Spiegel|date=12 July 2010}}</ref>

ElBaradei has called for international criminal investigation of former Bush administration officials for their roles in planning the [[Legality of the Iraq War|war on Iraq]].<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/former-iaea-head-suggests-iraq-war-crime-probe-of-bush-administration-1.357684?localLinksEnabled=false "Former IAEA head suggests Iraq war crime probe of Bush administration."]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ''AP'', 22 April 2011.</ref>