Mohammed ElBaradei
Mohammed ElBaradeiIsrael news photo: Flash 90

Mohamed ElBaradei will be sworn in Saturday as interim prime minister, his spokeswoman told CNN.

The news came after state media reported that the diplomat had been summoned to the presidential palace by Interim President Adly Mansour for talks.

The interim government is to rule Egypt until elections are held.

Chief Justice Adly el-Mansour was officially sworn into office Thursday as the new transitional President of Egypt. First, however, he was sworn in as head of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court.

ElBaradei played a key role in protests that removed Hosni Mubarak from power, and planned to run as a liberal, secular candidate in July’s presidential election. He cancelled his bid in January, citing undemocratic behavior by the military.

David Kenner, Associate Editor of Foreign Policy magazine, wrote Wednesday that ElBaradei had confirmed to him that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had spoken with him about the possibility of being appointed prime minister.

“In a meeting earlier this year with a visiting scholar,” wrote Kenner, “[Muslim] Brotherhood deputy chairman Khairat al-Shater said that U.S. officials had called on Morsy to appoint ElBaradei as prime minister... [T]he thinking, according to Shater, was that ElBaradei's appointment could repair the rift between the government and opposition, stabilizing the country."