国际英语新闻:Egypt refers Libyan ex-official to criminal court

CAIRO, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's prosecution referred Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam, former coordinator of Libyan-Egyptian relations, to Cairo Criminal Court on Sunday over charges of attempted murder, official news agency MENA reported.

Gaddaf al-Dam will remain in temporary custody over charges of resisting and attempting to murder the policemen who arrested him in March, in addition to illegal possession of weapons and ammunition.

The former Libyan diplomat was arrested by the Egyptian authorities on March 19, and then Egypt's prosecution ordered to detain him for 30 days over corruption charges.

His detention was based on the legal and judicial cooperation agreement between Egypt and Libya, which enables one country to detain suspects from the other for renewable 30 days until their extradition.

Gaddaf al-Dam was also wanted by the Interpol for alleged involvement in several cases under the regime of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

On March 26, Egypt extradited former Libyan ambassador to Cairo Ali Mohamed al-Amin Maria and former Libyan finance official Mohamed Ibrahim Mansour to Tripoli over corruption charges by the Libyan authorities.

Gaddaf al-Dam, who also has an Egyptian nationality, filed a lawsuit to stop all prosecution procedures for his extradition, arguing the conditions in Libya in terms of courts and prisons were not safe. On April 3, an Egyptian administrative court ordered the suspension of all procedures to extradite the ex- official.

Egypt and Libya have signed a legal and judicial memorandum of understanding to guarantee fair trial of extradited defendants.

Under the memo, extradited defendants must be tried before ordinary courts in line with international standards, including granting them the right of defense during interrogations and trial stages.