Egypt bans ex-ministers from travel

Three former ministers and a prominent businessman also have their bank accounts frozen.

The former interior minister is reportedly being questioned as to why he chose to take police off the streets [EPA] Egypt's attorney-general has issued a travel ban on several former ministers and a prominent member of the ruling party and frozen their bank accounts, state news agency MENA has said. Those banned from leaving the country are Habib al-Adly, the ex- interior minister, Ahmed el-Maghrabi, the former housing minister, and Zuhair Garana, the former tourism minister. Ahmed Ezz, a wealthy member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) who resigned from the party after protests against President Hosni Mubarak broke out last week, was also among those banned from leaving the country. The statement said other officials were also under the ban which would last "until national security is restored and the authorities and monitoring bodies have undergone their investigations". 'Interrogation' They are "banned from travelling abroad while their bank accounts have been frozen until security is reinstated, and until investigative authorities conduct probes to establish who was criminally and administratively responsible for all those events," MENA quoted Abdel Meguid Mahmud as saying. An Al Jazeera correspondent, reporting from Egypt, said al-Adly is also being interrogated for his decision to order police off the streets, and whether any security forces were involved in clashes between pro-democracy protesters and Mubarak loyalists that are continuing to rage in Cairo. The police melted away last Friday after tens of thousands took to the streets demanding Mubarak's ouster. What followed was days of lawlessness and on Wednesday, clashes broke out in Tahrir Square of Cairo after Mubarak loyalists attacked pro-democracy protesters. The protesters say police in plain-clothes were among the attackers.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies