Ban on Mubarak and family
CAIRO: On the former President Hosni Mubarak and his immediate family the public prosecutor of Egypt imposed an international travel ban on Monday, as well as a freeze on their Egyptian assets, as part of the first publicly announced investigation into the first family’s considerable wealth.
Afetr weeks of sufferings and protests, last week the Egyptian officials asked foreign countries to freeze the family’s international assets, believed to be in the millions, or even billions, of dollars.
One of the youth organizers of the revolution and a lawyer Ziad el-Elaimy, hailed the decision by the prosecutor’s office to move forward with the investigation, but expressed concerned that the two-week delay may have already led to the hiding of some assets.
He said, “It is late, but it is good that it happened.”
“We have demanded from the very first moment to hold officials accountable for corruption and to try them.”
The vice president Omar Suleiman to whom Mr. Mubarak appointed as one of his final acts in power, has also not been heard from or seen since 11th of Feb.
The 82 year old Mubarak has vowed to die in the country he led for 30 years, is believed to be in Sharm el-Sheik, the Red Sea resort where he spent much of his time in recent years. But his precise location, as well as that of his family members, has been a closely guarded secret of the military authorities who have been in control of Egypt, along with a caretaker cabinet, since his government fell. The announcement of the investigation raises questions about the extent to which the army will be able to continue to shield him.
