Death for killers of Lebanese star

CAIRO (AFP) - A Cairo court sentenced to death on Thursday an Egyptian tycoon and an ex-cop hitman for the murder last year of the businessman’s former lover, Lebanese pop diva Suzanne Tamim.
The judge ordered Hisham Talaat Mustafa and retired policeman Mohsen al-Sukkari hanged for respectively ordering and carrying out the brutal slaying of the singer in a luxury Dubai apartment in July.
Mustafa, a stalwart of Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party, was found guilty of paying Sukkari two million dollars to cut the throat of Tamim, 30, at the Dubai flat she bought months before the murder.
Chaos erupted in the packed courtroom after the judge read the verdict and ordered the men’s sentences referred to the mufti for confirmation.
The culprit’s family members wept, and some of Mustafa’s entourage grappled with photographers and cameramen who rushed to the cages where the two men were held after the judge read out the verdict. Mustafa’s wife fainted. Sukkari, who pensively smoked a cigarette before the judge entered the court, trembled and turned pale after the verdict was read out.
Abdel Sattar Tamim, the slain singer’s father, told AFP in Beirut that the family was satisfied with the verdict and was now awaiting the final ruling by the mufti.
The case with its mix of wealth, show business and politics has gripped Egypt, where powerful businessmen are rarely seen to face justice.
Samir al-Shishtawi, one of Mustafa’s lawyers, told reporters that the defence would appeal the verdict. “I want to assure Talaat Mustafa’s family that this verdict will be overturned by the appeals court,” he said.
Mustafa ordered the killing after Tamim, who had previously married two men in the music business, tied the knot with Iraqi kick-boxing champion Riyad al-Azzawi, whom she met at London’s renowned Harrods department store.
Sukkari followed her to Dubai to stake out Tamim’s flat. He then bought a knife, went to the apartment saying he worked for the building owner and killed her when she opened the door.