‘UK safe haven for Mubarak’s agents’

Britain has once again revealed its hypocritical nature as it continues to provide former Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s Finance Minister with a safe haven despite calls for his arrest.

The Egyptian press has launched a scathing attack on the British government for its refusal to extradite Youssef Boutros-Ghali, Mubarak’s Finance Minister from 2004 until 2011 who is sentenced to 30 years in prison, as the Egyptian newspaper Al-Akhbar published an article entitled “Safe haven for former finance minister in Britain.”

While Boutros-Ghali has been found guilty of corruption in absentia and is sought by Interpol, he has been taking refuge in Britain since the time waves of the Islamic Awakening movements reached Egypt and Egyptians took to the streets calling for the ouster of Mubarak.

In an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabe’a, the spokesman for Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Amr Roshdi, clearly announced that the Egyptian embassy in London has asked the British government five times to extradite Boutros-Ghali to Cairo.

Nevertheless, the British government continues to host Boutros-Ghali as he is also ordered to return 60 million Egyptian pounds (equal to £ 6.43 million) to the country.

Furthermore, Boutros-Ghali’s presence at the London School of Economics (LSE), which is already under severe attack over its links with former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi’s son Saif al-Islam, angered the Egyptian people.

Egyptian students spotted Boutros-Ghali as he was attending a lecture at the LSE on the Egyptian revolution.

Shouting “catch that thief”, Egyptian students chased Boutros-Ghali. However, instead of being apprehended, he was let out through the back door by the LSE security.

“This man is a criminal in Egypt who should be serving 30 years in prison there. I would not have expected the LSE just to sneak him out like this,” said Dina Makram-Ebeid, a PhD student at the university.

Only 10 days after Mubarak was forced out of office, British Prime Minister David Cameron paid a visit to Egypt’s Tahrir Square, as the first world leader after Mubarak’s ouster, and tried to ally himself with Egyptian revolutionaries.

In a pretentious show, he hailed Egyptian people’s revolution and claimed Britain would help the democratic process of “a genuine transition from military rule to civilian rule.”

However, only 10 months after Cameron’s visit, British made tear gas was targeted at Egyptian protesters at the very same square.

As the British government continues to provide Mubarak’s agents with a safe haven, its hypocritical nature becomes more evident to Egyptians.