Israeli MK denies getting $25,000 a month from Mubarak

Former president of Egypt Hosni Mubarak paid MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer a monthly salary of $25,000, according to Mubarak’s leaked memoirs, which have been serialized in the Egyptian daily Rose al-Youssef, Al-Arabiya reported on Wednesday.

The alleged payments took place at an unspecified point during Mubarak’s long term in office.

Ben-Eliezer, who has served in various cabinet posts, is known to have had a close relationship with Mubarak but vigorously denied the assertions.

“Nobody paid me a cent, ever,” he said on Wednesday. “It’s the first time I’ve heard this nonsense. It’s a joke and someone’s crazy imagination.”

Ben-Eliezer said he would call the ailing former president, whom he called a “friend,” to get to the bottom of the story.

The published excerpts of Mubarak’s memoirs also contained previously unknown details of his relationship with his wife, who comes across as an excessive spender whom Mubarak considered divorcing before their first son was born.

Mubarak discusses important events in internal Egyptian politics, including the assertion that the 1990 assassination of politician Rifaat el-Mahgoub was conducted by State Security Bureau officers, rather than the Islamists who were ultimately tried.

Mubarak also revealed his admiration for former US president Ronald Reagan, but wrote that he blamed current president Barack Obama for what happened to Mubarak’s family after the Egyptian revolution.