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Egypt scraps Israel gas supply deal

23 April 2012 07:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Egyptian officials say they have scrapped an agreement to supply Israel with natural gas, APA reports citing BBC.

Israel received around 40% of its gas supplies from Egypt and uses it to generate electricity.

The announcement comes after the cross-border pipeline suffered numerous sabotage attacks which cut supplies.

Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the move was of "great concern", and overshadowed peace agreements between the countries.
Egypt was the first Middle East country to sign a peace accord with Israel, in 1979, and the deal to supply energy has been a key part of agreements between the two states.

But the BBC’s Jon Leyne in Cairo says the gas deal is deeply unpopular, and one of the charges against former President Mubarak is that he sold the gas too cheaply.