Movie star escapes acid attack

A Lebanese driver admitted yesterday that he had been hired by an ex-husband of a famous Egyptian movie star to throw acid at her to avenge her intention to marry another man, police said.

Selim Hussein Rizq, 25, was arrested by the Cairo police while roaming the residence of actress Ilham Shahin last Wednesday afternoon with a bottle of sulfuric acid, with which he had planned to attack her on her way out of her apartment.

Selim said that his employer, a business tycoon, had paid him U.S. $70,000 to carry out the acid attack against Shahin in reprisal for her intention to marry another man, a security sources close to the case said.

He said that police knew about Selim's mission from its beginning through an Egyptian officer whom Selim had hired in Cairo for the attack on the actress in return for LE 10,000.

Police had videotaped and recorded all of the secret meetings between Selim and the officer said the sources, adding that they were putting Selim under around-the-clock surveillance and were aware of the date and time of the attack through the officer.

Police pressed an attempted murder charge against Selim and referred him to the Cairo prosecutor's office for further interrogation, said the source.