Egypt interim presidential spokesman Ahmad al-Muslimani said Sunday that the appointment for prime minister had not been made yet, responding to earlier news that interim president Adly Mansour had nominated Mohamed ElBaradei to be interim PM.

"Interim president Adly Mansour met today with Dr ElBaradei but so far there has been no official appointment," presidential advisor Ahmed al-Muslimani told reporters, adding that ElBaradei was "the logical choice" among the candidate list.

Before the clarification, ElBaradei's nomination had been widely spreading among media, saying that several sources and state media confirmed the nomination. The news of nomination immediately aroused strong objections of Islamists.

Ahmed Khalil, deputy leader of the Nour Party, the second biggest Islamist group after the Muslim Brotherhood, told the state news website on Saturday that the party would withdraw from the political transition process if ElBaradei was confirmed as the interim PM.

The Muslim Brotherhood called for further protests on Sunday after dozens of people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded on Friday in clashes between Morsi's supporters, opponents and the military, Reuters reported.

"Egypt is going on the path of division," Gao Zugui, a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told Global Times Sunday.

"Morsi's supporters, opponents and the military are competing, reflected in the debate over the appointment of a prime minister. Mansour has to consider Morsi's supporters' influence and try to avoid the total split of the nation," said Gao.

"Though the Morsi government has been overthrown by the military, his supporters are still very strong. The hesitation over the prime ministerial appointment shows that Mansour doesn't want to directly oppose Islamists," Xiao Xian, an expert on Middle East affairs with Yunnan University, told the Global Times.

Global Times - Agencies