Tuesday, September 11, 2012

United Arab Emirates - Report - Extradition Order - Pm Ahmed Shafik Faces Arrest

NEW:Shafik tells Egyptian newspaper he expected charges

NEW:The corruption probe includes Mubarak sons, two generals

Shafik is suspected of involvement in alleged corrupt real estate dealings

He left Egypt in June for the United Arab Emirates

Cairo, Egypt (CNN) Prosecutors in Egypt have ordered the arrest and extradition of ex-prime minister and presidential runner-up Ahmed Shafik, along with other Mubarak-era officials, according to Egypt's state-run Middle East News Agency.

The move is tied to an investigation into alleged corrupt real estate dealings involving the illegal sale of state property to the sons of former President Hosni Mubarak.

Shafik, a former air force chief and the last prime minister to serve under Mubarak, lost a June presidential runoff to Mohammed Morsy. He left Egypt for the United Arab Emirates after the vote, but his attorney told CNN at the time that he was not fleeing the country.

And in an interview with Egypt's state-run Al-Ahram newspaper on Tuesday, Shafik said he expected the charges and would await the results of an investigation.

The judge ordered Shafik held in connection with the sale of 40,000 square meters (9.9 acres) of land in the lakeside city of Ismailia to Mubarak's sons, Gamal and Alaa. The judge also referred allegations against Gamal Mubarak, two Egyptian generals and a member of the country's pilot officer's association to a criminal court for investigation.

The allegations against them include profiteering, facilitating the seizure of public property, forging official documents and deliberately damaging public property, MENA reported. Four of the counts involve Shafik alone.

Legal petitions accusing Shafik of corruption were submitted in April, but prosecutors had taken no action against him when he left for the UAE, his attorney, Showee Elsayed, told CNN at the time.

CNN's Aroub Abdelhaq and John Defterios contributed to this report.

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