Presidential hopeful Amr Moussa has said he is contacting and negotiating with the European Union (EU) in order to recover money smuggled out of Egypt by former officials. In an interview with monthly magazine Al-Amal, Moussa said that despite the fact that he has no official status he is using his experience and international contacts to urge European officials to help return Egyptian money. There is no estimation of the total amount of money smuggled to Europe by members of the ousted regime. This month Assem al-Gohary, assistant minister of justice for Egyptian affairs, who also heads up the Egyptian judiciary committee tasked with recovering stolen funds from abroad, said that ousted President Hosni Mubarak's two sons have an estimated US$340 million in Swiss bank accounts. In this month's issue of Al-Amal, Moussa also expressed concern about the deteriorating security situation in the country. He said that if he is elected he will restructure the security apparatus in order to maintain the security of people and society. Moussa said that the former regime used the security services as a tool to control political life. “Security services should not intervene in political and social problems, but rather maintain the internal security of the country,” the magazine quotes him as saying. Moussa said he is working to achieve true democracy in the country, adding that Egypt would be a rich country if it was properly managed and will cause major changes in the region if it turns into real democracy. He said Egyptian diplomacy should support change in the whole region. As for the labor movement, unleashed since the outbreak of the revolution, Moussa said he believed in the future it will be better because a single party will not have control. “There will be a real democratic system that allows space for several movements," he said, adding that the labor movements would greatly benefit from democracy and obtain many of their rights that have been missing.
