Any action over Mubarak wealth up to army: PM

Egypt's prime minister said on Saturday he was not aware of any action taken regarding ousted President Hosni Mubarak's wealth and that any procedures would be in the hands of the country's military rulers.`

Egypt has asked the United States, Britain and France to freeze the assets of former Egyptian officials, although Mubarak was not on the list.

Asked if any steps had been taken regarding Mubarak's wealth, Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq told reporters: "I have not heard of any steps and I have not received anything," the state news agency reported.

He added the issue was in the purview of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country after Mubarak stepped down.

Switzerland, the world's biggest offshore banking centre, ordered a freeze of assets that may belong to Mubarak shortly after he was toppled by a popular uprising last week.

Britain's Serious Fraud Office has said it was looking for assets in Britain linked to Mubarak in case there was any request to seize them, but that there had not been any request yet.

Political prisoners

Meanwhile, Shafiq said the government would soon release 222 of the country's remaining 487 political prisoners, the official MENA news agency reported.

Only a handful of them were arrested during the 18-day revolt that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak on February 11, he said.

"Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq announced that there are 487 remaining political prisoners and the government will soon release 222 of them," the agency reported.

"He said there was only a small group of those arrested during the events of the January 25 revolution, no more than a handful, and their release is being studied now," MENA reported.

The report did not clarify whether the remaining prisoners would be released later. Their release is one of the main demands of youth and opposition groups who took part in the revolt.

Shafiq also said he was trying to determine the fate of young people who went missing during the revolt.

A leading Egyptian rights activist said on Tuesday that hundreds of people went missing during the protests, alleging that some are being held by the military, which took over the country after Mubarak's resignation.

Gamal Eid, a lawyer who heads the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, said: "There are hundreds of detained, but information on their numbers is still not complete... The army was holding detainees."

His group said in a statement that it was still receiving "information relating to the disappearances of many youths and citizens."