An Egyptian business man and former police officer have been found guilty of the murder of a Lebanese pop star called Suzanne Tamim, who, as previously reported, was found dead in Dubai last July.
Egyptian real estate mogul Hisham Talaat Moustafa was arrested last September for hiring a hitman to kill Tamim, who rose to fame in her home country after appearing on a TV talent show in the 90s. This week he, and the man it's claimed he hired to do the killing, Muhsen el Sukkari, were found guilty of the crime in an Egyptian court.
The judge sent the case to the country's highest religious official, Grand Mufti, for sentencing, which is bad news for the defendants because being sentenced under Islamic law means they almost certainly face the death penalty, most likely by hanging.
The story has been big news in Egypt because of the celebrity status of the victim, and the fact Moustafa sat in the country's parliament. It's claimed the businessman loved the singer but couldn't take her as a second wife, despite polygamy being allowed in the country, because his family disapproved. He ordered her killing, the prosecution claim, out of revenge.
The two defendants said that the prosecution's case was weak because it was based mainly on evidence amassed by the United Arab Emirates police force which, they argued, was not reliable enough to be credible in an Egyptian court. The duo were tried in Cairo instead of Dubai because there is no extradition arrangement between the two countries.