Egypt was facing renewed political tension on Thursday after three leading opposition figures, including a former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, were placed under investigation for allegedly plotting to topple Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist president.
Egypt was facing renewed political tension on Thursday after three leading opposition figures, including a former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, were placed under investigation for allegedly plotting to topple Mohammed Morsi, the Islamist president.
A judge is to investigate Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), along with the former foreign minister and Arab League chairman, Amr Moussa, and Hamdeen Sabahi, a former presidential candidate, over accusations that they campaigned to unseat Morsi during a recent outbreak of unrest.
The announcement by the new chief prosecutor, Taalat Ibrahim Abdallah, who was appointed by Morsi last month, will heighten concerns that the president and his Muslim Brotherhood backers intend to scapegoat political opponents.
It comes two days after a controversial new constitution - denounced by the secularist opposition as a route to sharia and discriminatory against minorities and women - was officially declared to have been approved in a referendum.
The investigation results from a complaint filed by a lawyer following a wave of protest that swept the country after Morsi's adoption last month of sweeping powers - later revoked - that put him beyond legal challenge.
While not necessarily leading to criminal charges, the investigation of an internationally respected figure such as ElBaradei - who spearheaded the IAEA's scrutiny of Iran's nuclear programme - will raise concerns that Egypt is lurching towards authoritarianism.
Emad Abu Ghazi, the secretary general of the opposition party headed by ElBaradei, said it showed "a tendency toward a police state and the attempt to eliminate political opponents".
The inquiry was announced as the opposition National Salvation Front - to which the three belong - said it would consider an offer of talks with Morsi. But the front's spokesman, Hussein Abdel Ghani, said it would enter only "real and effective" talks, and dismissed a forum set up by the president as "farcical".
The country's jailed former president, Hosni Mubarak, is to be admitted to hospital after his health suddenly deteriorated. An army source said the ailing 84-year-old would be transferred from a prison clinic to Maadi military hospital in a Cairo suburb.
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