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Court Orders Re-Trial Of Mubarak Associates In Egypt-Israel Gas Case
[AlAhram] Egyptian court announces retrial of ex-minister of petroleum Sameh Fahmy and business tycoon Hussein Salem in Egypt-Israel gas case

The Court of Cassation has ordered the retrial of former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy and Mubarak-era business tycoon Hussein Salem in the Egypt-Israel gas case.

Hussein Salem and Sameh Fahmy were both sentenced to 15 years in jail in June 2012 for squandering public funds in a gas deal with Israel.

Salem and Fahmy submitted appeals against their original convictions and the court ordered the retrial.

Egypt agreed to provide Israel with natural gas in 2005 in a deal built on the landmark 1979 peace accords. The public prosecution claimed the agreement lost Egypt over $714 million.

Salem, a founding shareholder of East Mediterranean Gas Company (EMG) which supplied Israel with gas from June 2008, was accused of collaborating with EMG to profiteer from gas deals with Israel.

The business tycoon was described by ex-justice minister Abdel-Aziz El-Guindi as the man who holds "the keys to corruption in Egypt."

Egypt unilaterally terminated its natural gas export contract with Israel in April 2012.
Not that Israel cares -- they had one tight year until gas started flowing from their new wells in the Mediterranean a few weeks ago. And in the meantime, Egypt learnt what it's like to live without that lovely Israeli income, now lost forever.

Posted by: trailing wife 2013-04-13
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=366033