Pop star's killers sentenced to death
- 00:01:17
- ITN
Pop star's killers sentenced to death
A prominent Egyptian property tycoon has been sentenced to death for the murder of Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim. Hisham Talaat Moustafa, who is close to President Hosni Mubarak's eldest son, was found guilty of paying former Egyptian police officer Mohsen el-Sukkary £1.3 million to kill Tamim after she ended their relationship. El-Sukkary was also sentenced to death in a court hearing that descended into pandemonium after the verdicts and sentences were delivered. Speaking in the Lebanese capital Beirut after the hearing, the Tamim family's lawyer Najib Liyan said the were "grateful" and added that they "had no doubts about the justice of the Egyptian court." The murder - a story of a jilted lover who hired a thug to murder a beautiful diva - has been the stuff of tabloid headlines across the Middle East. Authorities maintain Moustafa paid el-Sukkary, a former State Security officer who worked for the tycoon at one of the Four Seasons hotels he owned in Egypt, to kill Tamim while she was staying in a luxury hotel in Dubai. El-Sukkary was captured on video at the hotel and the knife he used was quickly found. The trial has captivated Egyptians who have long seen moguls like Moustafa as untouchable - a privileged elite whose wealth and influence placed them above the law.
ITN | May 21, 2009
