Egyptian police on Tuesday (December 5th) arrested former interior minister Habib al-Adly who had been on the run to avoid serving a prison sentence for embezzlement, AFP reported.
Al-Adly, whose iron-fisted command of the country's police helped fuel a 2011 uprising that unseated longtime president Hosni Mubarak, was arrested in Cairo, lawyer Essam al-Batawy said.
State television also reported al-Adly's arrest.
He was sentenced in April to seven years in prison along with 10 other former officials for embezzling about $122 million.
He had been a fugitive since then. He had contested his sentence which an appeals court will examine in January.