Egypt Orders Arrest of Shafiq

Local Editor

Egyptian authorities ordered on Tuesday the arrest of the last premier during the rule of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, Ahmad Shafiq, on suspicion of corruption. The Egyptian judiciary did not mention any extradition request, saying only that he would be arrested if he set foot back in Egypt. Shafiq, who has been living abroad in the United Arab Emirates since narrowly losing the first post-Mubarak elections to Islamist incumbent Mohamad Mursi in June, has been barred from travel using his Egyptian passport since last month. He faces corruption charges in a case connected to that of Mubarak's long untouchable sons Alaa and Gamal. A former air force chief and civil aviation minister, Shafiq was named premier in the last days of Mubarak's presidency before the veteran strongman's overthrow in February last year. He got 48.3 percent of the vote in a second-round presidential election runoff against Mursi in June. Last month, he slammed the travel restrictions imposed on him as "political". He said he would have no hesitation about flying home if he deemed it necessary.

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