An Egyptian general prosecution delegation will head to Spain in the coming few days to discuss recovering smuggled funds of fugitive businessman Hussein Salem.

The stolen funds are estimated at around $20 billion.

The delegation will hold negotiations with Salem to recover the smuggled funds and close the case, the state news agency reported a judicial source as saying.

Salem's case and all law suits in which he is included are being studied "in order to reach a settlement that best suits the assault on public money and recover funds appropriate with this assault", the source said.

Tarek Abdel Aziz, Salem's lawyer, said last January that he had met with Mostafa al-Husseini, attorney general of the supreme prosecution for public funds, and proposed reconciliation in all lawsuits filed against Salem and in return Salem will waive half of his properties.

If a reconciliation agreement is reached, Salem will empower all supervisory bodies in the state to reach his properties and bank accounts inside Egypt and abroad, Abdel Aziz stated.

Salem insisted on reconciliation although Spain's Supreme Court had retracted its decision to hand Salem over to Egypt, Abdel Aziz said, adding that Salem and his family "want to live in peace".