A Cairo court on Saturday acquitted Mubarak-era petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy in a retrial on charges of squandering public funds in a gas deal with Israel.

Cairo criminal court acquitted on Saturday Mubarak-era former petroleum minister Sameh Fahmy and five of his associates in the retrial for charges of squandering public funds in a gas deal with Israel.

Fahmy, who served as oil minister from 1999 to 2011, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in June 2012 for squandering public funds.

Egypt agreed to provide Israel with natural gas in 2005 in a deal built on the landmark 1979 peace accords. In the case against Fahmy and other involved officials, prosecutors claimed the agreement lost Egypt over $714 million due to the low price at which the gas was sold.

Egypt unilaterally terminated its natural gas export contract with Israel in April 2012.

In the Saturday ruling by a Cairo criminal court, five of his associates were also cleared of the charges.





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