Britain under pressure to trace Mubarak's money

Published February 13th, 2011 - 07:10 GMT
The Mubarak family has long had familial ties to the UK, with wife of fallen head, half British: but will Britain protect their interests and assets now?
The Mubarak family has long had familial ties to the UK, with wife of fallen head, half British: but will Britain protect their interests and assets now?

Britain's government is under pressure to trace and freeze the assets of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak's family has strong links to the UK and Mubarak's son Jamal once ran a London-based investment firm which may have helped house some of the family's fortune. Earlier this week authorities moved to freeze suspected Mubarak assets in Switzerland but the UK has so far held off on any similar move.

The country's treasury says such a move could only be carried out if Egyptian authorities request it, or if Mubarak is blacklisted by European or UN officials, or if not freezing the money presented a direct threat to UK interests.

Former junior foreign minister Mark Malloch Brown said Sunday that any Mubarak accounts should be frozen now.

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