CAIRO: Egypt's presidential loser Ahmed Shafiq is reportedly in Saudi Arabia performing the lesser pilgrimage, or Umrah, and will return to Egypt, his campaign said late Tuesday evening. On Tuesday morning, the former Prime Minister under ousted and jailed dictator Hosni Mubarak, arrived in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) along with most of his family. Activists in Egypt lashed out at the military junta for allowing the military strongman to leave the country while 35 corruption cases are still pending from his time as minister of civil aviation. Ahmed Sarhan said that his boss, the air force officer, would be returning to Egypt in order to form a new political party in opposition to President Mohamed Morsi, who beat him in the presidential campaign. Egyptian lawyers had called on the military junta to bar Shafiq from leaving the country so he could stand trial for the charges against him during his time as minister of civil aviation under the Mubarak regime, which was ousted in February 2011 after massive protests. The corruption cases were first handled in military courts, but later they were transferred to the general attorney who transferred them back to the military court once again. Rights activists see that as an attempt from the military ruling council to hold back the cases, in case Shafiq were to be found guilty. Many cases were filed on behalf of workers at the ministry of civil aviation, accusing their former minister of financial corruption. Shafiq, who had an iron fist over the ministry and the aviation sector in Egypt for 9 years, is accused of wasting billion of pounds of public money. Former employees accuse him of embezzling 4 billion Egyptian pounds ($800 million). He was known for having zero tolerance for strikes and had fired many workers who attempted to do so. Several protests against him running for the presidency were held outside the Cairo International Airport to protest his candidacy and calling for the court cases to be processed. Former Egypt intelligence chief and Vice-President Omar Soliman has also fled to the UAE.
