Court bans Egypt-Israel deal testimonies

Tue Sep 13, 2011

The Criminal Court of Cairo has ordered Egyptian media not to report witnesses' testimonies over the controversial gas deal between Egypt and Israel.

The court on Monday resumed the trial of several officials for exporting gas to Israel under market prices.

The defendants in the case included Egypt's former Energy Minister Sameh Fahmy, fugitive Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem, and five other executives of the Egyptian General Petroleum Authority.

The defendants are accused of "exporting gas to Israel at a price lower than international market prices, harming public finances." The deal allegedly incurred losses worth over USD 714 million to Egypt.

The new Egyptian government has been reviewing deals signed during ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak's rule.

Israel gets 40 percent of its natural gas from Egypt, under an arrangement put in place after a 1979 US-pushed peace treaty. Four Israeli firms have signed agreements to import Egyptian natural gas.

Egypt's gas export to Israel was halted after a series of explosions north of Eilat following the Egyptian revolution in February.

The deal has been repeatedly challenged in Egyptian courts as it was signed without a parliamentary consultation and approval.

Opposition groups have long complained that Egyptian gas was sold to Israel at below-market prices.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, but the situation has drastically changed since the Egyptian revolution which toppled former dictator Hosni Mubarak. A number of Egyptian political parties are now calling for changes to the peace treaty.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/198980.html.