Egyptian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei should be immediately released from his house arrest, the government of his adopted home country Austria demanded Friday.
Security forces prevented the prominent opposition figure from leaving a mosque in Giza and then placed him under house arrest, one day after he arrived from Vienna, dpa reported.
"Should the reports be true, this house arrest would have to be ended immediately," Chancellor Werner Faymann said in a statement.
He called on Egypt's government to respect the freedom of expression of demonstrators and opposition members.
ElBaradei, the former head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, has indicated he would help head a transitional government should President Hosny Mubarak step down.