Egyptians Can Claim Mubarak’s Stolen Billions http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54459

"The new law allows the Swiss government to return money to their legitimate owners in cases of proven embezzlement," Valentin Zellweger, head of the department for international law at the Swiss government, told IPS. According to official Swiss figures, the Egyptian government keeps accounts and trusts in local banks for some 3,800 billion dollars. At least one third of this amount is held in so-called custodial accounts, the typical bank instrument used to conceal wealth obtained through embezzlement of public funds.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle’s praise for Mubarak during a visit to Cairo, Egypt, as "a man of great wisdom and experience, who always keeps his eyes firmly on the future" exemplified the Egyptian dictator’s cushy relationship with the North. European collaboration with dictators such as Mubarak has extended beyond praise and indifference about corruption. According to official figures, in 2009 alone, Germany delivered some 100 million dollars worth of weapons to Mubarak’s regime. "All German governments over the past 20, 30 years are guilty of complicity with the brutality of Mubarak’s regime," Paul Russmann, spokesperson of the German Campaign against the Export of Weapons, told IPS.