Egyptian billionaire sentenced to death for murder of Lebanese pop star who was his secret lover

An Egyptian billionaire has been sentenced to death for the murder of his secret lover, Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim.

• Hesham Talaat Moustafa was found guilty of paying security man Muhsen el Sukkari $2million to stab Tamim to death at her house in Dubai last July. Sukkari was also sentenced to death.
• The Cairo courtroom descended into chaos today as the sentences were read out, with female relatives
• The sordid tale of sex, politics, money and showbusiness has gripped the Arab world. 
• Sukkari attacked Tamim on July 28 last year at her luxury Dubai apartment after he tricked her into opening her door by posing as a representative of the building’s owners.
• He then stabbed the singer to death.
• Tamim, who was 30 years old when she died, rose to fame after winning an Egyptian Pop Idol-type show in 1996.
• She had had an affair with Moustafa – but ended their relationship and married an Iraqi kick-boxing champion, Riyad al-Azzawi, whom she had met in London. It was her second marriage.
• Moustafa then ordered her murder, according to the indictment.
• Egyptian media reports have said that Sukkari worked as a security officer at the Four Seasons Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, which the Talaat Moustafa Group built.
• The indictment accused Moustafa, who was stripped of his parliamentary immunity before the trial, of participating in the crime through ‘incitement, agreement and assistance’.
• The evidence included tape recordings of telephone calls between Moustafa and Sukkari, security video footage from the Dubai apartment and DNA from the bloodied clothes that Sukkari was accused of leaving close to the scene of the crime.