Ex-Mubarak aide sentenced to 7 years for graft

CAIRO (AFP) - A Cairo criminal court on Sunday sentenced ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's former chief of staff to seven years in jail on corruption charges, a judicial source told AFP.

Zakaria Azmi was also ordered to pay a fine of 38 million Egyptian pounds (around $6.2 million), the source said.

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

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.

Mubarak himself faces a verdict on June 2 to determine whether or not he was involved in the killing of protesters during the 18-day revolt.

The sentence comes as vote counting is underway in Egypt's first free presidential election, which will see a run-off between Mubarak's last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, and Mohammed Mursi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood banned under the strongman.