Egypt ex-minister cleared of graft

Faruq Hosni, who was Egypt's culture minister for more than two decades under ousted president Hosni Mubarak, was cleared on Saturday of corruption charges, a judicial source said. A criminal court in the Giza suburb of Cairo "found Faruq Hosni not guilty on charges of corruption and illegal enrichment," the source said. In September, state media reported he was accused of illegally acquiring 18 million Egyptian pounds (nearly $3 million). Hosni was also accused of "abuse of power in the exercise of his duties." He was placed on a travel ban, along with a host of officials, shortly after the uprising that brought Mubarak's regime down in February 2011, but the ban was later lifted. The former minister stirred controversy abroad over statements in which he told an Islamist MP that he would personally burn any Israeli books found in Egyptian libraries. Many believe that those remarks cost him his bid to head the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in 2009. Hosni joined a long list of Mubarak-era ministers, officials and businessmen who faced prosecution on corruption charges. Mubarak was himself jailed for life in June last year for his part in the deaths of protesters seeking to overthrow his regime.