Rachid says unaware of accusations against him
Friday, 04 February 2011
Egypt imposed a travel ban on former trade minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid on Friday and froze his assets, the state news agency MENA said.
"The public prosecutor's decision is part of the precautionary measures taken against some officials after prosecutors received complaints of theft of public money," MENA said.
The prosecutor imposed a travel ban on other ministers from the former government and a former ruling party official on Thursday, the agency said. It also froze their assets.
In an interview with Al Arabiya, Rachid said he had not been formally notified of the ban or frozen accounts, but had heard about it on television on Friday. He said he did not know what the accusations were against him.
"I am a man who served my country for six and a half years and believe I have done all my duties. I am ready to confront anyone, I have no problem, but someone please tell me what is going on and what the accusation against me is," he said.
Rachid, a regular at the World Economic Forum in Davos, has been an important face for Egypt in the commodities market as former minister of trade overseeing Egypt's global wheat purchases. Egypt is the world's biggest wheat importer.
Rachid told Al Arabiya he had declined the position of trade minister in Egypt's new cabinet. The previous cabinet was sacked by President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday as anti-government protests escalated across the country.
In another interview with state television, Rachid said he was in Dubai and had travelled prior to the ban with the knowledge and consent of authorities.
"If they thought I had done something wrong, why did they want me to join the (new) ministry ... why did they let me travel?"
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