Judicial authorities in Egypt have issued arrest warrant for the last Prime Minister of the Mubarak-era on corruption charges.
Ahmed Shafiq, believed to be in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) now, is accused of selling government lands at a fraction of their value to Mubarak's jailed sons Gamal and Alaa in 1993 while he was working for an association affiliated with the Air Force. A former Air Force officer, Shafiq has dismissed the charges as politically-motivated.
Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported on Tuesday that Shafiq had been served an arrest warrant.
A longtime associate of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, Shafiq had served as a Cabinet Minister for several years. He narrowly lost to Muslim Brotherhood nominee Mohamed Mursi in the June Presidential run-off.
Some observers had expected that Shafiq would soon return to Egypt to launch a new political party to counter the Freedom and Justice Party launched by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Mubarak who ruled Egypt for 29 years until he was ousted in an 18-day uprising 19 months ago is serving a life sentence for complicity in killing pro-democracy protesters during the revolt.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com