CAIRO -- Leading liberal Egyptian politician Mohamed ElBaradei has been named interim prime minister. He was appointed following crisis talks led by President Adly Mahmud Mansour - three days after the army removed Islamist leader Mohammed Morsi amid growing nationwide unrest. The move has in turn triggered mass unrest by supporters of Morsi. ElBaradei - a former head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog - is expected to be sworn in later on Saturday. He and other party leaders attended a meeting called by Mansour on Saturday. ElBaradei leads an alliance of liberal and left-wing parties, the National Salvation Front. “It is a painful measure, nobody wanted that,” he said. “But Morsi unfortunately undermined his own legitimacy by declaring himself a few months ago as a pharaoh and then we got into a fist fight, and not a democratic process.” Polarised nation More than 30 people died and about 1,000 were wounded in Friday’s protests by Islamist supporters of the deposed president. The Muslim Brotherhood - to which Morsi belongs - has said its followers would remain on the streets until he is restored to office. On Saturday pro-Morsi crowds demonstrated again. Funerals for those who died have also been taking place. The BBC’s Kevin Connolly in Cairo says Egypt remains sharply divided between Islamist supporters of Morsi and rival demonstrators who helped force him from office. The latter have called for demonstrations against the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday. Morsi is in detention, along with some senior Brotherhood figures. He was replaced on Thursday by Mansour - the head of the Supreme Constitutional Court - who promised to hold elections soon but gave no date. The next day Mansour dissolved the upper house - or Shura Council - which had been dominated by Morsi supporters and had served as the sole legislative body after the lower house was dissolved last year. The Tamarod [Rebel] movement - which organised recent anti-Morsi protests - had accused the ousted president of pursuing an Islamist agenda against the wishes of most Egyptians, and of failing to tackle economic problems. The US and other Western countries have expressed concern over the Morsi’s removal, and have called for reconciliation and speedy elections. Agencies
