A committee set up by Egypt's military rulers will travel to Europe aiming to recover frozen assets belonging to deposed President Hosni Mubarak and other leading officials, the state news agency said on Thursday.
European Union governments agreed on March 21 to freeze the assets of Mubarak and 18 associates. Switzerland, one of the countries the Egyptian delegation will visit, froze assets that could belong to Mubarak on Feb. 11, the day he stepped down.
Essam el-Gawahri, a senior justice ministry official heading the committee, said it would "make every effort to restore those assets to the country according to the U.N. Convention against Corruption", the state news agency MENA reported.
The mission will begin in the next few days.
Activists who mobilised to topple Mubarak have been demanding more aggressive measures to recover his assets, which Egyptians widely believe run into billions of dollars in value.
The panel will also take steps to uncover secret overseas bank accounts held by Mubarak and senior aides, Gawahri said.
Gawahri, head of an official body in charge of uncovering ill-gotten gains, said he had also banned three senior officials from leaving Egypt after investigations showed they had amassed large amounts of wealth.
Travel ban
Egypt's justice ministry on Thursday slapped a travel ban on three senior aides of Mubarak, as part of a sweeping probe into corruption, the official MENA agency reported.
Former parliament speaker Fathi Surur, former upper house speaker Safwat al-Sharif and Mubarak's chief of staff Zakaria Azmi -- all stalwarts of Mubarak's National Democratic Party -- have been prevented from travelling abroad, said Assistant Justice Minister Assem al-Gohari.
He said the decision, which also applied to their wives, came after investigations revealed that they had accumulated "enormous wealth."
Last month, Mubarak, his wife Suzanne and his two sons Alaa and Gamal and their wives were banned from travel and their assets ordered frozen by general prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud.
The judiciary has also banned several ministers, officials and NDP members from leaving the country pending further inquiries. Several have also had their assets frozen.
A dozen businessmen regarded as close to the ousted regime have also been placed under investigation since Mubarak stepped down on February 11.
On resignation, Mubarak handed power to a military council that pledged to bring to justice all those found guilty of abuse.