Egyptian authorities on Sunday arrested a senior judge as they press a rare investigation into corruption at a top court, judicial sources said. Wael Shalabi, secretary general of the council of state, an administrative court, was arrested at dawn and taken in for questioning, the sources said.

His arrest comes days after the Administrative Control Authority responsible for tracking corruption arrested the council's chief procurement officer, Gamal el-Labban. Media reports said Labban was detained after a huge amount of cash was found at his home.

He reportedly had in his possession 24 million Egyptian pounds ($1.3 million, about 1.2 million euros) as well as $4 million and two million euros. Prosecutors ordered Labban's detention for four days pending an investigation. After Labban's arrest, Shalabi submitted his resignation to the council of state which accepted it on Saturday. In a statement, it also pledged to investigate all procurement contracts reached over the past five years.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2017