Court stops order blocking Egyptian gas to Israel

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Published: FEBRUARY 2, 2009 15:33
An Egyptian court has suspended an earlier ruling halting a much criticized deal to export Egyptian natural gas to Israel. Opposition groups had sued to halt the 15-year fixed price deal between an Egyptian company and the state-run Israel Electric Corporation, arguing it lacked any mechanism for Cairo to adjust prices to reflect current market conditions. The private company party to the deal is partly owned by the Egyptian government. In November, a lower court had ruled that the exports should be halted. But the Supreme Administrative court on Monday suspended that ruling, pending a review of the situation by an independent experts panel. Another hearing was scheduled for March 16.