Ex-head of Alexandria library convicted of corruption

CAIRO – An Egyptian misdemeanours court has sentenced the former head of Alexandria Bibliotheca to three years in prison after convicting him on corruption-linked charges.

The court convicted Ismail Serrag Eddin of squandering public funds. The verdict, reported Tuesday by Egyptian media, can be appealed.

The case started when employees accused Serrag Eddin of wasting some 20 million Egyptian pounds when he appointed top advisers with hefty salaries and privately travelled abroad at the expense of the library.

Meanwhile, Egypt’s prosecutor general filed corruption charges against four former CEOs of the country’s largest newspaper Al Ahram and referred them to a criminal court.

Nabil Sadek on Monday charged the four with giving gifts worth millions of pounds to officials of former president Hosni Mubarak.