Egypt ex-tourism minister receives second jail term

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Egypt’s former Tourism Minister Zoheir Garranah was given a three year jail sentence for unlawfully issuing company licenses, the latest jail term for ex-officials who served under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Garranah is already serving a separate five-year jail term for squandering public funds after being sentenced in May.

Since Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising in February, protesters have demanded that officials accused of abusing their positions durintg his 30 years in office be held to account, Reuters reports.

Mubarak himself is on trial over the deaths of demonstrators and corruption charges, and pictures of him appearing in court in a cage have been one of the defining images of the wave of revolts sweeping across the Arab world.

The state news agency said Garranah was sentenced for issuing licences for tourist companies in violation of an order that no new licences be awarded.