The eldest brother of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been appointed to head a government body responsible for investigating the funding of terrorist activities, including illegal money-laundering activities.
Ahmed Saeed Hussain Khalil was appointed to the job in a decree issued on Sunday by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, along with several other members of the board of trustees.
The Unit for Combatting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, which was founded in 2002, is authorized to access bank accounts in seeking to prevent money laundering that supports terrorism.
As a senior judge, Sisi's brother is already deputy head of the Court of Cassation, and has experience in dealing with financial issues related to trade and banking. In Sunday's decree, he was named Ahmed Saeed Hussain Khalil, the name is normally uses for professional purposes, although his full name includes the family name "al-Sisi".
Other members of the board named in the decree include: deputy governor of Central Bank of Egypt Gamal Abdel Aziz; head of Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority Sherif Samir Sami; deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Kojak; and representatives of the general prosecution and the Federation of Egyptian Banks.
Sunday's announcement has been criticized by some, due to the close family relationship between the unit's new head and the president of Egypt. In addition, some have questioned the failure of the decree to make mention of the Sisi family name in announcing the appointment.
"The decree itself is not something new, but choosing [judge] Sisi to head the unit raises lots of questions," a source at the Court of Cassation told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
"The unit has been headed for years, since the rule of toppled president Hosni Mubarak, by Serry Siam, the former president of the Court of Cassation and former head of the Supreme Judicial Council. But nobody is aware of what it has accomplished during those years," said the anonymous source.
"Now, after all these years, it is to be presided over by a judge from the top judicial body in the country, who is the brother of president!"
Meanwhile, another source close to judge Sisi said that he is well qualified to head the unit, since he has experience in trade disputes, which relates to the unit's focus on banking and financial issues.
The source described judge Sisi as affirmative and strong, focused on his own professional responsiblitities, never seeking to benefit from his brother's name in the context of his work.
According to judicial sources, the Court of Cassation approved the new appointment at the request of the Cabinet. The appointment lasts for two years.
