The powerful Egyptian business tycoon-- accused of ordering the murder of a Lebanese singer--spoke out for the first time since his arrest earlier this month and vehemently denied the charges against him, press reports said Saturday. In a letter written from prison, Hisham Talaat Mustafa said he is innocent and accused "enemies" of fabricating the case against him, Egypt's pro-government newspaper Akhbar al-Youm reported.Mustafa--a lawmaker and top ruling party member--was arrested Sept. 2 after he was accused of paying a former police officer U.S. $2 million to kill singer and former girlfriend Suzanne Tamim, who was found decapitated in her luxury home in Dubai in July. Mustafa's lawyer, Farid al-Deeb, said he will prove that plenty of people had a reason to want Tamim dead and his client has been set up, the paper quoted him in an interview as saying.
Al-Deeb also denied rumors that Tamim had stolen U.S. $30 million from Mustafa and said the alleged phone conversations recorded by Mohsen al-Sukkari, the former officer accused of killing Tamim, are false.
Mustafa also sent out a message to his family and told them to "raise their heads" and have full confidence that he is innocent, the paper added. Mustafa's trial is scheduled to open Oct. 18 in Egypt.