20110404
reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army rulers froze assets belonging to three former aides of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, meeting a demand of reformers seeking tough action against figures of the past administration.

The decision on Monday applies to Fathi Sorour, the former speaker of the lower house of parliament, Safwat el-Sherif, a senior member of the one-time ruling party and head of the upper house of parliament, and Zakaria Azmi, one of Mubarak's senior aides, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported on Monday.

Essam el-Gawahri, a senior justice ministry official who heads a committee in charge of uncovering ill-gotten gains, last week banned the three from leaving Egypt after investigations showed they had amassed large amounts of wealth.

The decision to freeze their assets also applies to their wives and children, MENA said.

Reformers who drove mass protests that toppled Mubarak on February 11 have demanded tougher steps to recover assets they say Mubarak and others took from the state.

Egypt's public prosecutor had earlier ordered auditing and supervisory authorities to investigate claims made against the three former politicians.

Prosecutors have been investigating corruption allegations made against former officials and businessmen connected with the Mubarak administration.

On Friday, thousands of Egyptians demonstrated in central Cairo demanding that Mubarak and his top officials to be put on trial and accused them of corruption and illegal profiteering.

Egypt has been ruled by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by the defence minister who served under Mubarak.