The American ambassador to Britain succeeded in stopping an Egyptian attempt to arrest Egypt's former minister of finance in Britain. Youssef Botrous-Ghali was sentenced in absentia for corruption by an Egyptian court. Egypt has presented a request to the British government through Interpol to arrest Ghali before he flies to the United States, but the U.S. ambassador intervened because Ghali is also an American citizen. Sources told Youm7 that the U.S. Embassy in London rejected 12 requests from Interpol to arrest Ghali. However, Egyptian security forces admitted they did not present the complete documents regarding the former minister's case. Under British law, Ghali could be extradited in line with a treaty with Egypt if the papers were complete. Media reports said earlier that Ghali had flown to the U.S. and the British airport authorities questioned him for nine minutes, and then he was allowed to leave. Ghali reportedly flew to New York alone and left his family in London. In related news, the Egyptian community in London is expected to organize a protest outside the British Council of Ministries calling for both Ghali and Rashid Mohamed Rashid, Egypt's former minister of industry, extradited to Egypt.
