Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel Peace Prize-winner and former head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, has slammed the Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak for "revealing" published private photographs of his daughter Laila to discredit him.
Reacting to the publication of personal photographs from the family's Facebook profile, ElBaradei, a potential candidate in the coming presidential elections, said the regime was conducting a defamation campaign against him.
The Nobel Laureate, who returned to Egypt in February this year to push for reforms, said this "demonstrates the necessity of the demands for change we advocate because it is the only way to bring about democracy and reform" (to the country).
"Such campaigns are always the only response by the regime to those who call for democracy, but democracy is the only way for freedom, economic reform, social justice, and dealing with citizens as human beings who have human rights," the leading Egyptian dissident said.
On its part, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) condemned the publication of the pictures, on Facebook, with its spokesman saying the publication of the pictures was "dishonorable."
But, Muslim Brotherhood, the influential Islamist opposition movement, said it was not interested in ElBaradei's personal life.
An album containing 33 photos, apparently taken from Laila's Facebook profile, was posted without her knowledge, on the social networking site under the title "Secrets of ElBaradei family."
In some of the photographs, Laila as well as her husband, both in swimsuits at the beach, were seen seated in front of what appeared to be bottles of alcohol.
The pictures were reprinted by some Egyptian newspapers, including a local independent daily Al-Youm Al-Sabei, which later deleted them from its website.
Drinking is forbidden under Islam, and conservative Muslims in general frown upon a woman appearing publicly in a swim suit.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.