Interpol asked to arrest Mubarak associate

Over gas deal. HERE.

In 2005 there began a 15-year deal for Egypt to sell huge amounts of natural gas to Israel (Egypt has good natural gas supplies, though relatively little oil). Some people here are utterly opposed to any such transaction with Israel, but the problem is that there really isn’t any other feasible market for Egypt’s gas, at least according to what I’ve read on the topic.

The more controversial issue now is that Israel seems to have gotten a really sweet deal on the gas, at below-market prices. And no one thinks the old regime simply did that as a kindly favor to the Israelis. The estimated $500 million in losses probably ended up partly as kickbacks in the pockets of old regime officials. If they really did such a thing, then they couldn’t have picked a better issue to inflame public opinion in this country. Justice will be stern if there are any convictions, with the word “treason” likely to be thrown into the mix.