CAIRO: The assets of four ex-officials close to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were frozen on Monday by the head of the Illicit Gains Authority, Assem al-Gohari, who also serves as the Assistant Minister of Justice, reported state news agency MENA. The officials are Fathi Sorour, the former Speaker of the People's Assembly; Safwat al-Sherif, the former speaker of the Shura Council; Zakaria Azmi, former Chief of the Presidential Staff; and Ibrahim Suleiman, former Minister of Housing. The men were banned from using their assets, said al-Gohari on Monday. The decision was upheld by the Cairo Court of Appeals, which issued a decision to uncover the secret accounts and transactions of the former officials, their wives and their children. The authority said the wealth of the officials was growing at unreasonable rates, suggesting they exploited their political positions. Last week three senior officials from the former Mubarak regime were banned from traveling abroad by the Ministry of Justice. The move comes amid increasing demands by the coalition of the youth of the January 25 Revolution for the trial of the officials for corrupting and spoiling political life in Egypt. Many who participated in the 18-day uprising which led to Mubarak's ouster in February have called to purge the country of such former officials and foil any ‘counter-revolution' attempts. Since Mubarak's resignation, Egyptians have rallied for different causes on Fridays. This Friday has been dubbed the day to “save the revolution.” The youth are calling for a million-man march in Cairo's Tahrir Square and in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria on Friday, demanding the trial of all former officials of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), dissolving the former ruling party, and the speedy trial of the former president and his family. BM
