Egyptian tycoon Hisham Talaat Mustafa was charged with paying two million dollars for the killing of Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim, reportedly his one-time lover.
Mustafa was arrested and charged with ordering the murder of Tamim at her upmarket apartment in Dubai in July, Egyptian prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmud said in a statement carried by the official MENA news agency.
Tamim, 30, who rose to fame after winning a Lebanese talent show in 1996 but recently had disappeared from the public eye, was stabbed multiple times and her throat was slit, allegedly by a retired policeman paid by Mustafa.
Mustafa, a stalwart of the ruling National Democratic Party and member of the Shura Council, Egypt's upper house of parliament, runs the Talaat Mustafa Group real estate conglomerate, which is worth several billion dollars.
He is also said to be close to President Hosni Mubarak's son and heir apparent Gamal.
A judicial source said Mustafa, who was born in 1959, had been arrested and was being held pending trial.
Acting on a request from the public prosecutor, Shura speaker Safwat Sherif stripped Mustafa of his parliamentary immunity, MENA reported.
Retired Egyptian policeman Mohsen al-Sukkari has been arrested and charged with carrying out the murder, the prosecutor said. Local media said Sukkari worked as a security contractor for various Egyptian companies.
Sukkari confessed to Mustafa's involvement in the case after his arrest, the prosecutor said.
Mustafa and Sukkari could face the death penalty if convicted.
Mustafa allegedly paid Sukkari two million dollars to go to Dubai to carry out the murder. Sukkari apparently was able to get inside the building where Tamim lived by posing as an employee of the building’s owner. He then knocked on Tamim’s door, and stabbed the singer to death when she answered, the prosecutor said.
Tamim's life had been marred by domestic disputes, including a rocky marriage with her second husband and agent who had accused her in 2004 of being behind an attempt on his life.
Egyptian media said Tamim had a relationship with Mustafa over a three-year period which ended several months ago. The singer then left Egypt for London before moving to Dubai.
-AFP