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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Egypt court freezes gas exports to Israel |
| 2008-11-19 |
| A Cairo court on Tuesday overruled the Egyptian government's decision to allow exports of natural gas to Israel and said the constitution gave parliament the right to decide on sales of natural resources. But Israel expressed confidence that the Egyptian government would not allow any interruption to gas deliveries under the deal despite the court order. Israel rejects ruling A senior Egyptian official said the verdict did not require immediate implementation and the government would appeal against it. Cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said the government respected the judiciary but could not comment until it receives the ruling. Judicial sources said the government could ignore the ruling, as it has done in many past cases, or postpone action by filing a countersuit challenging the decision. Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructure said it was confident the political agreement covering the gas between the Egyptian and Israeli governments would remain in effect. "The ... ministry has no doubt that deals between the Egyptian gas company and its customers in Israel remain valid. The ministry is convinced that the supply of gas from Egypt to Israel will continue as usual," it added. Former diplomat Ibrahim Yussri, along with some members of the opposition, brought the case against the government several months ago. |
| Posted by:Fred |