WASHINGTON - The temporary government of Egypt has asked the United States to freeze the financial assets of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and four other officials. But the US State Department said earlier Monday it had not as yet received such a request. Department spokesman PJ Crowley said he was not aware of any specific requests about funds connected to Mubarak. 'Obviously, if the Egyptian government makes a particular request, we will take appropriate action,' Crowley told reporters. Earlier Monday, the European Union appeared to be closing in on the assets of Mubarak's regime held in the EU, although no official confirmation was available. 'I understand that a note by the Egyptian government has been sent to member states,' an EU diplomat, who asked not to be named, told the German Press Agency (dpa). A freeze on Mubarak's assets has already been decreed by Switzerland, which was also quicker off the mark in the case of former Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, another ousted North African ruler whose assets were frozen last month.
