Conviction for murder of pop diva overturned

AN Egyptian appeals court has overturned the convictions of a leading ruling party member and a former policeman sentenced to death for the murder of a Lebanese pop diva.

The cassation court yesterday ordered a retrial for ruling party member Hisham Talaat Mustafa and Mohsen al-Sukkari, the ex-policeman, who had been convicted by a lower court last May of singer Suzanne Tamim’s murder and sentenced to hang.

The court did not give its reasons for the ruling. The two men are to remain behind bars pending the retrial.