Egypt's PM storms out of press conference over corruption question

Egypt’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab pulled out of a press conference in Tunis on Tuesday after being questioned about his alleged involvement in a corruption case.

A reporter from a local Tunisian channel asked Mahlab if he was personally connected to the case that led to the dismissal of the Minister of Agriculture Salah Helal, and to his prompt arrest earlier this week. 

Egypt's prosecution released a statement which accused Helal of taking bribes from Ayman Mohamed, one of the four defendants arrested in the case, in return for smoothing over legal procedures for the latter to own 2,500 acres of land in the Natroun Valley.

The Minister of Religious Endowment Mohamed Mukhtar Juma is also associated with the case, and a travel ban imposed recently on him led to speculation that he would be dismissed from his post.

Mahlab reportedly gave Helal the presidential order issued by Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to resign, with some of the local media reporting that Juma received the same orders on Wednesday. 

After the question, Mahlab walked out without saying a word. His Tunisian counterpart, Habib Essid, remained in place for a moment before also walking out. 

Egyptian newspapers quoted Mahlab as saying during a meeting with the Egyptian community in Tunisia that the issue of corruption in the Ministry of Agriculture was "exaggerated". 

The incident occurred during Mahlab’s official visit to Tunisia, where the two countries signed 16 agreements covering various sectors. It was Egypt’s first such visit to Tunisia in five years.

Reports have previously circulated around the Egyptian premier’s alleged involvement in a number of corruption cases that revolve around embezzling funds from the presidential palace budget.

The moves fuelled news that Egypt will undergo a cabinet reshuffle that will see up to nine ministers replaced. 

Mahlab was in charge of the now defunct National Democratic Party led by ousted president Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown after the 25 January uprising in 2011.