Hussein Salem, a businessman and ally of Egypt's deposed president Hosni Mubarak, and his family have given up 75% of their wealth including land, agriculture and hotels (worth EGP5.3bn or USD596.85mn) in a deal that will allow them to return to Egypt without facing prosecution, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office said. Salem, who holds Spanish citizenship, was arrested in 2011 under an international warrant in Spain, where he fled in the aftermath of the 18-day popular uprising that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule. An Egyptian court sentenced him in absentia to seven years in jail and fines totaling more than USD4bn in 2011 after convicting him of money laundering and profiteering. He later faced further graft-related convictions, but was cleared in 2014 of charges related to gas exports to Israel along with Mubarak and a former oil minister. Salem was a major shareholder in East Mediterranean Gas (EMG), and Egyptian opposition groups had long complained that EMG was selling gas at preferential prices to Israel and other countries, depriving Egypt of potential revenues. The deal is part of a wider reconciliation effort with wealthy businessmen who fled Egypt to avoid corruption charges after the uprising. (Reuters)