Tamim trial gets underway

Egyptian construction magnate Hesham Talaat Moustafa and a former police officer went on trial Saturday for the murder of Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim.

Moustafa, a member of parliament for the ruling National Democratic Party, is charged with paying security man Muhsen El-Sukkari $2 million for stabbing Tamim to death at her house in Dubai in the UAE on July 28.

The charge sheet said that Moustafa's motive was revenge but it did not explain their relationship in detail.

Both defendants pleaded not guilty to murder and incitement charges at a hearing on Oct. 18 that drew massive crowds outside the courtroom, with hundreds of policemen protecting the streets around the building.

At Saturday's trial security was just a tight, and there were people queuing outside the courtroom from as early as 5am, four hours before the trial started, TV network CNN reported.

Inside the courtroom the judge listed and displayed evidence found by police in Tamim's apartment, including a T-shirt, knife, blood and a pair of trousers, CNN said.

The defendants claim the evidence should not be used against them because it could have been fabricated or tampered with by authorities in the UAE, according to the network.

The judge also heard the testimony of one of 13 witnesses before adjourning. Further witnesses are due to be heard on Sunday, CNN said.

Moustafa, who was born in 1959, has given up the chairmanship of the Talaat Moustafa Group to his brother Tarek and has been stripped of the legal immunity he enjoyed as a member of the upper house of parliament.

Tamim, who died at the age of 30, rose to fame after winning the top prize in a television show in 1996.

The Egyptian judiciary is trying the case because Egyptian law does not allow the extradition of Egyptian citizens to face trial in other countries.

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