Egypt's court acquits ex-minister of squandering public fund

A Cairo court acquitted Saturday ex-oil minister Sameh Fahmy in a retrial after 2012 conviction over charges of squandering public fund for selling Egyptian natural gas to Israel at below the market price.
Cairo criminal court also acquitted five of his associates in the same case.
Fahmy, who served as oil minister from 1999 to 2011, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in June 2012 for squandering public funds. An appeals court ordered a retrial in March 2013 for the defendants.
Egypt signed an agreement to provide Israel with natural gas in 2005. In the case against Fahmy and other involved officials, prosecutors claimed the agreement lost Egypt over USD 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.