Former Mubarak aide on trial

The Cairo Criminal Court adjourned the corruption trial of former presidential chief of staff Zakariya Azmy to add his wife to the same case, officials said. The adjournment was to give Azmy's lawyers time to study documents as Azmy's wife, Bahia Halawa, and his brother-in-law, Gamal Halawa, are also tried with Azmy on corruption charges, including charges that Azmy allegedly used his position as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's chief of staff for 22 years to amass a personal fortune, the Middle East News Agency reported Tuesday. Azmy was arrested in April and questioned by a committee formed to investigate corruption during Mubarak's 30-year rule. Prosecutors allege he abused his power as chief of the presidential staff and as a member of parliament in the dissolved National Democratic Party. Azmy is just one of a number of former government officials accused of amassing wealth at the expense of ordinary Egyptians, MENA reported. The trial is set to resume November 27.