Egyptian Court Fines Late President Nasser's Daughter for Defaming Slain Sadat

CAIRO, Egypt – An Egyptian court has ordered the daughter of late President Gamal Abdel Nasser to pay a fine to the daughter of assassinated President Anwar Sadat in the outcome of a feud between the families of the two Egyptian presidents, according to a newspaper report.

Monday's ruling compelled Huda Abdel Nasser to pay Ruqqiya Sadat the sum of 100,000 Egyptian pounds, or about US $18,500, for libeling President Sadat.

In an interview last year with an Egyptian magazine, Nasser's daughter accused Sadat of being behind Nasser's 1970 death from a heart attack, allegedly in the interest of the United States.

Sadat's daughter filed the lawsuit after the interview, her second such action. Earlier, a different court had dismissed a previous suit by Sadat's daughter, saying the comments by Nasser's daughter were not "incriminatory."

In its early edition for Tuesday, the government daily Al Gomhuria quoted court judge Ahmed Muwafi as saying the accusations by Nasser's daughter were unsubstantiated and exceeded the "limits of freedom of speech."

The two late presidents' daughters were not immediately available for comment.

The anti-U.S. Nasser was replaced by then vice president Sadat, who in 1979 became the first Arab leader to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Sadat was assassinated during a military parade in 1981.