Fire tore through a building in the Egyptian Interior Ministry compound in central Cairo on Tuesday and a ministry source said it was probably linked to a protest by police over pay and conditions.

"It is likely to be related to the protests, but it is not the building of the ministry itself that is on fire," an Interior Ministry source told Reuters, as flames and a column of black smoke billowed up over the center of the city.

Open gallery view Egyptian police protest in front of the Interior Ministry, calling for a raise in their wages, as army soldiers stand guard atop their armored vehicle in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Credit: Reuters

Meanwhile, Egypt's public prosecutor indicted the former finance and information ministers in a criminal court on charges of wasting public funds, the official state news agency MENA reported.

The cases are among a number brought forward by prosecutors who have been investigating corruption charges made after an uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak erupted on January 25.

"The public prosecutor ordered the referral of former Information Minister Anas el-Fekky and former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali to Cairo's criminal court on charges of deliberately wasting public funds," MENA said.

In February, Egyptian investigators ordered the detention of Fekky on suspicion of profiteering and wasting public funds. Fekky's detention would continue, MENA said.

Investigations showed Fekky demanded 36 million Egyptian pounds (e6 million) from the finance minister to cover media expenses for parliamentary elections as well as media campaigns to promote the political events and achievements made since Mubarak took office in 1981, MENA said.

Ghali reportedly accepted the requested sum, MENA said, citing a spokesman for the public prosecutor. Part of the amount was spent by Fekky in breach of the cabinet's operating standards, MENA said.

