Former president Hosni Mubarak is pleased with the New Suez Canal project that has been championed and highly-celebrated by the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, an actor who met him recently said.
Actor Tamer Abdel Moneim told satellite TV channel al-Assema late Tuesday that the ousted president had told him that the project "came in time because Egyptians need a strong project that yields good revenues."
Abdel Moneim, a staunch supporter of Mubarak and a fierce critic of the 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule, is the son-in-law of Mubarak's defense lawyer, Farid al-Deeb.
Mubarak had been acquitted of multiple charges related to the murder of the 2011 protesters and corruption, but is scheduled for a retrial over the charges in November.
The New Suez Canal project, scheduled for inauguration Thursday, is the most celebrated project of the government that ousted the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi from presidency in 2013.
The government hopes revenues from the project will increase 259 percent on the vital world trade waterway by 2023.
