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Suzan Tamim trial illustrates rise of money power

Tuesday, Oct 21, 2008

Gulf News

Cairo: Skipping his lecture at the Cairo University's Law School, Hassan Abdul Fatah, 21, was keen to show up at the Cairo Criminal Court on Saturday to attend the first hearing of the trial of the Egyptian business tycoon Hesham Tala'at Mustafa , accused of ordering the killing of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim in July.

"I came here at 7 in the morning, but I could not manage to enter the court building due to tight security measures, which I have never seen before," Abdul Fatah said, as he pointed to scores of anti-riot police and their vans stationed nearby.

"I want to see how the court will handle this case, which symbolises the decadence of the business community and political power abuse in Egypt," he told Gulf News.

Abdul Fatah is one of many ordinary Egyptians, who have been eagerly following the details of the case involving Mustafa , one of Egypt's top real-estate developers and an ex-member of parliament.

Mustafa , 49, pleaded innocent to incitement charges on Saturday.

Nexus

He is accused of ordering Mohsen Al Sukkari, an ex-policeman, to kill Tamim, with whom the former had allegedly been in love, in return for $2 million. The court adjourned the trial until November 15.

Tamim was found dead in her luxury apartment in Dubai on July 28. Since the details of the murder and Mustafa 's alleged involvement surfaced, the case has provided grist to the local media and brought the Egyptian government under criticism from the opposition.

"This case shows the marriage between politics and business in its ugliest form," said Abdullah Al Senawi, the editor of the opposition newspaper Al Arabi.

"Over recent years, the businessmen have become an essential part of the Egyptian regime. The bulk of the current Egyptian government's members are businessmen," he told Gulf News.

Al Senawi added that businessmen having strong connections with the ruling National Democratic Party, behave as though they were "a law unto themselves".

Mustafa is a senior politician in President Hosni Mubarak's ruling party and was reportedly tipped to become minister of housing.

"Who could imagine that more than 1,000 people drowned and the owner of the ship remains free," added Al Senawi, referring to Mamdouh Esmail, a businessman-cum-politician.

In February 2006, a ferry boat, owned by Esmail, a former MP, sank in the Red Sea with about 1,300 people aboard. A local court this summer cleared Esmail, who is staying in London, of negligence charges. Egypt's chief prosecutor has appealed against the acquittal ruling.

"The court should order Mustafa and Al Sukkari (the two defendants in the Tamim murder case) to pay 2 billion Egyptian pound in compensation for the dwellers of the poor areas in Egypt," said Nabih Al Wahash, a lawyer, who attended Saturday's session.

"The residents of the slum areas live in a real tragedy because of Mustafa and his like, who do not care about their compatriots and are greedily interested in enhancing their wealth and power," he added.

Mustafa , whose construction group has built a series of luxury houses on the outskirts of Cairo, had spent $12 million on Tamim during their alleged affair, according to local media reports. Mustafa has accused "enemies of success" of seeking to tarnish his name.

© Gulf News 2008. All rights reserved.