Egypt's former tourism minister Zuheir Garranah was today jailed for five years on charges of corruption.

Garranah, who was sentenced along with two businessmen, was charged of causing loss worth USD 51 million, after authorising the sale of state-owned land for well below the market price.

He is the second minister who served under toppled president Hosni Mubarak to be jailed for fraud, as part of a sweeping probe into corruption by the country's new military rulers.

Garranah is said to have ordered the sale of 305 million square metres, some of which was to oil-rich businessmen Hisham al-Hazeq and Hussein Segwani for one dollar per square metre for tourism projects.

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