Islamic development bank regional forum concluded in Kuala Lumpur

Cairo's Criminal Court on Thursday acquitted sons of the ousted president Hosni Mubarak, Alaa and Jamal, the ex-premier Ahmad Shafiq of squandering public funds' charges. The tribunal, headed by justice Mohammad Amer Jado, issued the innocence ruling for Shafiq in absentia. Mubarak's sons, who were present at the court hall behind bars, were also acquitted, along with two other persons. It ruled as invalid due to (time) limitation a lawsuit, filed against the former chairman of the officers' residency society, Major Nabil Shukri, and the association secretary, Maj. Mohammad Saqr. The former premier and the 10 other defendants, including the association board members and their relatives, have been accused of seizing and squandering public funds, counterfeiting, illegal earnings and money laundering, wasting some 35 million pounds. Current rate of the Egyptian pound to the US dollar stands at USD 0.14.