TV trial

The trial of news anchor Ehab Salah, who is accused of murdering his wife, begins in September, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky

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The trial of TV announcer Ehab Salah, 45, who has confessed to killing his wife, will start on 13 September at Giza Criminal Court. Salah will remain in custody in Al-Mazraa prison until the trial begins.

Salah, a news anchor who works for Egyptian state television, is accused of shooting his wife, 35-year-old Magda Wahid, at their Giza home last week following a heated argument in which she accused him of having an affair with another woman, the police said. Following the shooting Salah called the police and asked them to come to the scene.

In referring Salah to a criminal court on charges of murdering his wife, Attorney- General Abdel-Magid Mahmoud said that when Salah returned home from work he found his wife sitting with her sister Nagah in the living room. An argument then broke out between the suspect and his wife, after which he shot her.

Police report that the victim had suffered head injuries. Forensic experts say the victim was shot once in the head, causing damage to both the skull and brain.

An initial forensic report noted that the victim had scratches on her face and hands, suggesting that she had tried to resist a physical attack. The report concluded that Wahid was subsequently shot at close range.

Salah told the police that he had left the house a few days before the incident and had returned to collect some clothes. He claimed that as soon as he entered the house Wahid started to shout at him, accusing him of having an affair with a woman whose perfume she could smell on his clothes. Salah said that he tried to calm his wife down but she kept "provoking him by insulting him and his family and saying she is the one who fed him and paid all the expenses of the house".

"I could not stand the insults. I threatened to kill her if she did not stop, but she kept pushing and pushing, then I did not feel what I was doing, all I remember is that I saw her lying in a pool of blood on the floor," Salah told the investigators.

Wahid's sister Nagah was the only other person at the crime scene. During the shooting she was in the kitchen preparing drinks for the couple after trying to mediate between them.

"I saw Ehab smoking marijuana in the living room. Magda was furious about Ehab's relations with other women," Nagah said.

She added that she had been in the kitchen preparing drinks when she heard a gunshot. She ran to the living room where Salah was still holding the gun while her sister lay on the ground in a pool of blood.

Salah contests Nagah's account, claiming that it was his wife who smoked marijuana and who regularly drank.

Salah, whose father was a high-profile general at the Interior Ministry, attended Al-Azhar School and University before joining the Third Channel. After a few years he was promoted to Channel 2's news anchor.

In a letter published in the daily Al-Ahram Salah claimed that Wahid had started to stalk him several years ago, calling his office several times a day and following him around the city. At the time Salah was married to Doaa El-Husseini, a colleague. Salah was forced to divorce El-Husseini, he says, after Wahid threatened that "she would burn his wife's face if he did not marry her".

Eighteen months after the divorce Salah said he agreed to marry Wahid only after she hired 20 gangsters to destroy his house and car.

Wahid's brother denounced Salah's version of events as a fabrication and accused his brother in law of attempting to "use his influence to win the public sympathy".

He stressed that Wahid and Salah were in love, adding that he has hand written letters sent from Salah to Wahid to prove it.