Egyptian official says Tamim suspects will be tried in Egypt

THE ACCUSED: File photo of Hisham Talaat Moustafa, Egyptian real estate tycoon and ruling party stalwart. (AFP)

Egypt is unlikely to extradite the suspects in the murder of Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim to the UAE, an Egyptian legal official said on Wednesday.

"The arrest and investigations were conducted in Egypt," the unnamed official told UAE daily Gulf News.

Egypt's Prosecutor General charged business tycoon Hesham Talaat Moustafa and Muhsen Al-Sukkary, an ex-police officer, with involvement in the killiing of Tamim in Dubai on July 28.

The date of the trial will be set next week. Both defendants could face the death penality if convicted.

"The crime committed abroad [in Dubai] is punishable under the Egyptian Penal Code. Accordingly, they will not be tried outside Egypt," said the official. He would not say if the UAE had made an extradition request to Cairo, the paper added.

Hesham had "allegedly paid Al-Sukkary $2 million to track down Tamim in London and then in Dubai," according to Egyptian prosecutors.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Posted by Mohamed Al Khatib, Dubai, UAE on Friday 5 September 2008 at 14:18 UAE time

My hope is that Cairo wants the trial, because they want to show that you can no longer commit atrocious crimes and be protected by the government of Egypt. If they had really wanted to cover it up, then they would never have sent him to trial, so I am hopeful there is some noble motive in this action.

On the contrary
Posted by s.h. on Thursday 4 September 2008 at 19:53 UAE time

I believe that this whole shamble is meant to target this businessman. Would you believe it that ANYONE need to pay 2 million dollars to kill her? Be reasonable, for 10,000 he could have found a 1000 ex-military officers willing to do the job properly with a sniper gun and never get caught! Why a police officer? And why would the government black out the news like it's a government official and then it turns out to be this business man who has recently had many troubles with the local head of state.

It smells stinky and does not add up one bit!

$2 million to kill, how much for acquittal?
Posted by A, Cairo, Egypt on Thursday 4 September 2008 at 06:59 UAE time

By moving the trial to Egypt, Hesham Talaat Moustafa has been practically assured an acquittal of all charges. From the moment the Egyptian authoritarians banned press coverage of this crime, everyone could foresee the outcome.

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