CAIRO: An Egyptian court sentenced eight government employees, including the head of a cultural body, to 10 years in jail each on Monday for negligence over a theater fire last year that killed 46 people, a judicial official said. The official said that Mostafa Elwy, head of the authority for cultural centers who was among those convicted, was also a member of the ruling National Democratic Party s policies committee. The rest also worked for the Culture Ministry. The official said the men were responsible for the running of the overall administration of state-run theaters throughout the country. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni offered his resignation following the Sept. 5 fire in the provincial town of Beni Suef, 100 km south of Cairo, but was asked to stay by the prime minister on the president s instructions. Artists and intellectuals had demanded Hosni s resignation following the fire, which started in the theater owned by the Culture Ministry when a candle being used as a prop fell over. Reuters
