An Egyptian court Monday, November 5 ordered a former minister and five other senior officials to be held in jail as they face a corruption trial over millions of dollars in public funds, court sources said.
The higher state security court at a hearing in Cairo retracted bail on former finance minister Mohieddin Al-Gharib and the other officials, placing them in jail until the end of the trial, which opened October 22.
A total of 10 people are on trial, including the former head of Egyptian customs, Ali Taha Ali. They were arrested in June and four of them denied bail from the outset. The officials accused of embezzling around 29.5 million pounds (seven million dollars, 7.7 million euros) between November 1999 and January 2000, have handed over an estimated 10.3 million pounds to the state.
Gharib, 64, was finance minister from 1996 to 1999 in the government of former prime minister Kamal Al-Ganzouri. The trial continues on November 11, when witnesses are to be heard. — (AFP, Cairo)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
