THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Vince Cable, the British business secretary, has called for international action to locate billions of dollars thought to have been secreted out of Egypt by Hosni Mubarak, the country's ousted dictator.
The Foreign Office said Britain could only act against Mr Mubarak's assets in response to a formal request from Egypt's government, the European Union, or the United Nations.
The Egyptian authorities have so far made no such approach.
"There has to be a request made for any of this action to take place," said Alistair Burt, foreign office minister. "There are things that can be done, but so far there has not been a request made and therefore it is not possible to speculate."
On Sunday night it was announced that a total of 43 people were now subject to orders freezing their assets and banning them from leaving the country. They are understood to include members of the Mubarak family.
"There clearly needs to be a concerted international action on this," Mr Cable said, though he said he had no confirmation there were still Mubarak funds in the UK. "I think it would be great for the reputation for the City of London if those accounts were frozen now."
The Serious Fraud Office is already investigating financial entities linked to Mr Mubarak's sons, Gamal and Alaa. Gamal Mubarak began his business empire from a home in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, from where he launched a private equity fund.
The sons, along with their mother, Suzanne Mubarak, who is half-Welsh, are widely thought in Egypt to have British passports. >>> Praveen Swami, and Richard Spencer in Cairo | Sunday, February 13, 2011
LE FIGARO: La famille Moubarak garde, pour l'instant, ses milliards: Estimée entre 40 et 70 milliards de dollars, elle fait depuis quelques jours l'objet de toutes les spéculations. >>> Par Tangi Sala | Lundi 14 Février 2011
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