Four former senior government officials, including the widely despised former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, were arrested Thursday evening on charges of misusing government funds, dpa reported.
El-Adly had been charged with profiteering, fraud, seizure of state-owned land, money laundering and ordering peaceful demonstrators to be fired upon during Egypt's recent 18-day uprising, according to al-Masry al-Youm.
Also arrested was the Arab world's largest steel magnate and former parliament member, Ahmed Ezz, who is a leading member of the National Democratic Party of ousted president Hosny Mubarak.
Former tourism minister Zuhair Garana and former housing minister Ahmed el-Maghrabi were also arrested in the sweep. All four men will be jailed for 15 days or longer, depending on a court ruling to be issued within the coming weeks.
The attorney general's office had filed charges of corruption against the four men earlier this month, banned them from leaving the country and froze their assets just days before Mubarak's resignation.
The move to arrest the four men was made just ahead of a planned protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where more than 1 million people are expected to gather to mourn those who died during protests and to continue calls for reform and crackdowns on corruption.
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