A Cairo court on Thursday suspended a decision by a lower court to release on bail ousted president Hosni Mubarak's former chief of staff, ordering him to stay in prevention detention for further 30 days. "A court decision to release Zakaria Azmi on bail of LE200,000 ($33,640) is suspended. Azmi is jailed for 30 days for further investigations on illegal gains," a judicial source said. He added that the decision to release Azmi on grounds of bad health and old age was unlawful. Azmi, one of Mubarak's closest aides, was ordered released on bail on Tuesday after nearly six weeks in detention after his lawyer filed an appeal for his release. Under Egyptian law, suspects can be held for up to 45 days and then must be freed or brought to trial. Late on Wednesday, Assem el-Gohari, the head of the Illicit Gains Authority, ordered that Azmi return to detention after questioning him for nearly four hours following reports by watchdog groups about additional and previously undisclosed wealth believed to have been accumulated unlawfully. Azmi was detained for 15 days on April 7 as part of an investigation into allegations of illegal gains. He has been remanded twice since, each time for 15 days, court officials said. He has denied any wrongdoing.
