Egyptian court jails ex-minister for corruption

Cairo: An Egyptian court Wednesday sentenced former information minister Anas Al Feqqi to seven years in prison after finding him guilty of wasting $1.8 million in public money.

The court also handed down five years in prison to Osama Al Shaikh, the former chief of the state Radio and TV union, in the same case. The court convicted both former officials of squandering the public money by allowing private satellite TV stations to airing local soccer matches for free.

In July, another court cleared Al Feqqi, who was an influential official in the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak, of wasting public funds in campaigning to the now-disbanded ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections held last year.

Egypt's military rulers, in control of the country since Mubarak was ousted earlier this year, have been under intense pressure to bring allegedly tainted officials of the former egime to justice.