British Government Spokesman Martin Day, at a press conference at the British Embassy in Cairo on Monday, said the British authorities have agreed to Egypt’s request to freeze assets and bank accounts of former Egyptian officials.
Day also said that Britain has asked the European Union to do the same.
He added that returning assets depends on the result of investigations by the Egyptian authorities. “If it proves to be a misuse of public funds, the money will be returned to Egypt,” he said.
Day denied that European countries intend to hang on to the money. “We abide by the law, not intentions,” he said.
On extraditing officials accused in cases of corruption, Day said this move was not possible at the moment because there is no extradition agreement between the two countries.
He also said his government preferred holding the presidential elections before parliamentary ones in order to give a chance to newly formed political parties. “But this is an internal matter that we will not interfere in,” he said.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
