Egyptian media divided over business tycoon's indictment in Suzan case

Cairo: For opposition newspapers, the indictment of Egyptian business tycoon Hesham Tala'at Mustafa in the murder of a Lebanese singer exposes "the corrupt marriage of business and politics" in Egypt.

For the state-owned press, it is evidence that "no one is above the law" in this country of 80 million people.

On September 2, Egypt's chief prosecutor charged Mustafa, the owner of one of the country's leading real estate companies, with involvement in the killing of the Lebanese pop singer Suzan Tamim in her luxury apartment in Dubai last July.

Mohsen Al Sukkari, a retired policeman, accused of stabbing Suzan to death, confessed in investigations that Mustafa had ordered him to kill the singer for $2 million (Dh7.34 million). Mustafa, 49, has flatly denied the charges.

"Egypt now needs a radical and firm change to end the sinful relationship between the alliance of the depraved capitalism and the influential bigwigs in the ruling regime," wrote Jamal Al Deen Hussain in the opposition Nasserist newspaper Al Arabi this week.

"The scandals uncovered over the past five years involving people closely connected to the regime have proved that the [ruling] National Democratic Party is more or less a rallying point for groups of the country's looters," he added.

Stunning confessions

Mustafa is one of the closest friends to President Hosni Mubarak and his influential son Jamal, according to local officials. Mubarak, who has been in power for about 27 years, once thought of appointing Mustafa as minister of housing after expressing admiration for the latter's luxury housing projects, reported the independent daily Al Destour.

The same paper said that the ex-policeman Al Sukkari had been taken handcuffed and hooded to the office of the Egyptian Minister of Interior to whom he made his "stunning" confessions that Mustafa was involved in the murder. "The minister instantly informed an aide to Mubarak of the confessions," read a headline in Al Destour on Friday.

Mustafa is a leading politician in Mubarak's governing party and was a member of the parliament until early this month when he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity to be quizzed over the slaying of Suzan.

Arguing that the indictment of Mustafa "adds to the credentials" of the Mubarak regime, the semi-official newspaper Al Gomhuria, however, cautioned opposition writers against "exaggerating" illegal deeds committed by businessmen.