'US, Egypt junta talk to save Israel ties'

Speaking with the Iranian Fars news agency on Tuesday, ElBaradei said that the future of Egypt-Israel peace treaty was at the center of a recent secret round of talks between US officials and members of the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).

The former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the secret talks between US representatives and the SCAF are aimed at ensuring the sustenance of Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel.

ElBaradei made the remarks while some political parties including the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party have questioned the fate of the peace treaty.

The country's Islamic parties won Egypt's recent two rounds of parliamentary elections.

Calls for an end to the Cairo-Tel Aviv treaty have grown since the fall of Egypt's former ruler Hosni Mubarak earlier this year.

Most Egyptians have demanded an end to all ties with Tel Aviv and want an end to the treaty.

The SCAF took power after the ouster of Mubarak in a popular revolution in February. Since then Egyptians have staged mass demonstrations against the continued rule of the junta.

Protesters have been calling on the SCAF to hand over power to a civilian authority, accusing it of moving against the country's popular revolution by using violence against civilians.