Former Mubarak aide jailed for corruption

A Cairo criminal court has sentenced former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's chief of staff to seven years in jail on corruption charges, Egypt's official news agency reports.

The court on Sunday also ordered Zakaria Azmi to pay a fine of 38 million Egyptian pounds (about $6.2m).

Azmi was jailed last year and put on trial in October, charged with illegal acquisition of funds.

The official Middle East News Agency said the court established that Azmi had used his position to make illicit gains of 42.6 million pounds ($7m).

An aide to Mubarak since 1989, Azmi was considered an influential figure in the presidency and in the now-dissolved National Democratic Party.

He joins a host of former ministers and officials handed jail sentences following a sweeping investigation into corruption after the uprising that ended Mubarak's three-decade rule.