MOHAMED ELBARADEK DECLARED EGYPT'S NEW PRIME MINSTER AMID TURMOIL AND DEADLY VIOLENCE

Amid continued deadly protests by pro-Morsi supporters and an increasing death toll on the streets, former UN nuclear agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has been declared Egypt’s interim prime minister.

ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is about to become prime minister of Egypt's interim government, according to his spokesman and reports from news outlets.

The induction of ElBaradei as Egypt’s prime minister is predicted to give the Arab world’s most populous Muslim nation a liberal and secular character, a country that was led by Islamists until three days ago.

A source close to the army said earlier this week: "ElBaradei is our first choice. He's an international figure, popular with young people and believes in a democracy that would include all political forces. He is also popular among some Islamist groups."

ElBaradei leads the National Salvation Front, an alliance of liberal and leftwing parties. His election follows the appointment of Adly Mansour, chief justice of Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court, as interim president after the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi Wednesday by Egypt’s military.

The appointment of ElBaradei appears to be a consensus pick among the coalition of Egypt’s secular parties and opposition movements that joined to push for the ouster of Morsi, Egypt’s first democratically elected leader, on Wednesday.

As opposition to Morsi's ouster gains momentum, ElBaradei’s rise to prime minister is another precedent in Egypt’s simmering political landscape.

ElBaradei has struggled to find popular support outside Egypt’s urban, educated classes, in a country where roughly half the population lives on less than $2 a day. He played a major role in the 2011 revolution, which removed Hosni Mubarak from power.

Morsi’s Islamist supporters continued to clash with security forces and fought pitched street battles with Morsi’s opponents, as violence surged following Wednesday’s military coup.

The violence left at least 30 dead, and more than 1,000 injured across Egypt, according to reports.

The Washington Post reported:

“Frustrated, angry civilians divided themselves into warring camps that went after each other with clubs, rocks and gasoline bombs over a major bridge and thoroughfares in central Cairo, in scenes that recalled the revolution that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak in 2011.”

Farid Ismail, a senior representative from the Freedom and Justice Party, the Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, said he rejected ElBaradei as interim prime minister, describing the development as Washington's choice.

He told Reuters at an Islamist gathering in northern Cairo, "We reject this coup and all that results from it, including ElBaradei."

Morsi’s ouster has divided Egypt into two distinct camps and has almost brought the country to the brink of civil war.

The violence was the most widespread since the 2011 revolution that removed Mubarak. The continued turmoil shows that it is becoming difficult for the country’s deeply divided population to accept the authority of a single leader.

Dr. Abu Aisha summed up the confusion and turmoil that Egypt is embroiled in:

“There were dead and wounded from both sides, and they wanted to finish each other off, so they beat each other inside the hospital. There is no agreement and everyone is sticking to their views and we can’t come up with a plan to move the country forward.”