London banker held in Cairo over alleged link to deadly riots

A Cairo airport official said Yasser el-Mallawany was set to fly to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, but authorities barred him from leaving Egypt on orders from the country's attorney general.

A Justice Ministry official told Associated Press that el-Mallawany and Gamal Omar, a close friend of ousted President Hosni Mubarak's son, Gamal, were being investigated for allegedly paying thugs to attack revolutionary youths after a football match in the Egyptian city of Port Said.

During the riot last week, 74 people were killed after the home team, al-Masry, was beaten by Cairo's al-Ahly, whose fans - known as the Ultras - were at the forefront of last year's revolution.

Leading commentators claimed the riot was an orchestrated attempt to punish the Ultras as police stood by and watched.

EFG-Hermes shares fell 5.7% on the Cairo stock market.

Following the fall of Mubarak last year, the Egyptian public prosecutor banned some officials and businessmen from travelling, pending investigations into corruption allegations.

Mubarak, his two sons and some former officials and ministers are currently on trial.

EFG has come under the spotlight since last year for its association with Gamal Mubarak, who owns 18% of the investment bank's subsidiary EFG-Hermes Private Equity. The subsidiary generates no more than 7% of EFG- Hermes' total revenue. EFG has said it does not manage any funds or portfolios for Mubarak or his family and did not receive any special privileges from the Egyptian government.

EFG-Hermes has offices in Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Lebanon and employs more than 850 people. It has advised companies including Vodafone, Sainsbury and Heineken on deals in the region.

El-Mallawany was a member of the policies high committee of Mubarak's National Democratic Party and said his role was to "give ideas regarding the technical issues of finance".

The bank issued a brief statement to the London Stock Exchange, stating: "The company learnt yesterday that Mr Yasser El Mallawany, the chief executive officer of the company, was banned from travelling."

It declined to comment further.