The Egyptian state television has quoted Spanish Foreign Minister TrinidadGarcía-Herreraas saying on Monday that her country intends to return fugitive Egyptian business tycoon Hussein Salem, confident of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, for Egyptian authorities to try him on charges of corruption.
Meanwhile, Interpol said it did not receive official requests to extradite Salem to Egypt, adding that Spanish law allows Spanish authorities to try citizens who are accused of committing crimes even outside of Spain.
It also said the Spanish justice minister had announced that the Spanish government recommended Salem be extradited to Egypt.
Spanish judicial sources said Spain set firm conditions for extraditing Salem. Such conditions include guarantees from the Egyptian government that Salem would not be punished with sentences that are more severe than those for similar crimes under Spanish law, as well as guarantees that he would be treated well in detention and during investigations.
They also said that Salem would be the first to be tried in Spain for money laundering before he is extradited, which would take a long time, and that the Spanish judiciary is independent and cannot be influenced by the executive authority.
Translated from the Arabic Edition
