Egypt slaps travel ban on ex-culture minister, others
AFP
CAIRO- Former culture minister Faruq Hosni, whose failed bid to lead UNESCO triggered an international uproar, appeared on Wednesday on a list of Egyptians banned from leaving the country.
Atef Ebeid, prime minister from October 1999 to July 2004, and Osama el-Sheikh, head of Egyptian state radio and television, also figure on what the state-run MENA news agency called a "no-fly list".
The list was made public 12 days after an 18-day uprising forced Hosni Mubarak to resign as president after 30 years, during which his critics say corruption in Egypt was rampant.
Hosni, an abstract painter, was culture minister from 1987 until January 31 when he was dropped from the government in a reshuffle that Mubarak had hoped would address protesters' demands for change.
He was favoured to become the first Arab head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2009, before it emerged that in 2008 he had suggested the burning of Israeli books in Egyptian libraries -- a remark he later said had been taken out of context.
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