A court in Egypt has confirmed the death sentence for Hisham Talaat Mustafa, a real-estate tycoon, and his associate for the murder of Suzanne Tamim, a Lebanese pop singer.

The court had earlier found that Mustafa had paid Mohsen al-Sukkari, a former Egyptian security officer, to murder the singer in her apartment in Dubai last July.

On May 21, the two men were sentenced to death by hanging, with the sentence referred to Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa for confirmation.

The court said on Thursday the grand mufti had approved the decision.

The Cairo court building was encircled by dozens of black-clad security forces.

Mustafa and al-Sukkari, who were placed in the caged-off area for suspects with a partition between them, did not react to the judge's pronouncement.

Their lawyers said they will appeal within 60 days.

Mustafa was a member of the Shura Council, the upper house of Egypt's parliament, representing the ruling National Democratic Party, and was widely reputed to have been a close associate of Hosni Mubarak, the president, and his son.

The case has drawn a media frenzy in Egypt and throughout the Middle East.

Troubled times

Tamim rose to stardom in the late 1990s but then hit troubled times, separating from her Lebanese husband-manager, who filed a series of lawsuits against her.

During interrogations, Mustafa said he broke up with Tamim, describing her as a former lover, after his mother opposed the couple's marriage plan.

Motives behind the killing are not yet known.

According to Dubai investigators, al-Sukkari stalked Tamim to her apartment in the Dubai Marina complex and entered using an ID of the management company from which she had recently bought her place.

Blood-soaked clothes were found dumped outside the building, and police say the killer's face was captured on security camera footage.