Pop Star Killers To Be Executed

An Egyptian tycoon and a hitman's death sentences for murdering of a Lebanese pop star have been confirmed.

Hesham Talaat Moustafa was convicted of paying a hitman $2m (£1.2m) to kill Suzanne Tamim, 30, at her apartment in Dubai.

Media reports labelled the attack an act of revenge after she ended their relationship.

Singing star Suzanne Tamim


Moustafa was a member of parliament for Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party and formerly chaired a leading Egyptian property firm. The case gripped the Arab world.

The death sentences for Moustafa and security man Muhsen el Sukkari, who killed her, were referred to Ali Gomaa, Egypt's mufti and a religious authority appointed by the state, on May 21.

The mufti's approval is sought to confirm a death sentence but it automatically goes to appeal.

The verdict in May was greeted with shock in Egypt where members of the elite are generally regarded as being above the law and where reporting of the trial was banned.

Moustafa and Sukkari were inside a cage in court for the latest hearing and read the Koran before the judge confirmed the sentence.

Sukkari was reported to have tricked the singer into opening her door in Dubai by posing as a representative of the building owners.

He then stabbed her with a knife, the indictment said. Sukkari later dumped bloody clothes near the crime scene, leaving DNA, prosecutors said.

Evidence also included phone calls between Moustafa, who was born in 1959, and Sukkari.

Tamim rose to fame after winning the top prize in a television show in 1996.

Moustafa handed over the chairmanship of the Talaat Moustafa Group to his brother Tarek after being charged.