CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's former oil minister has been detained over allegations of wasting public money and harming the country's national interest by supplying Israel with gas at rates far below market prices.
Egypt’s prosecutor general on Thursday ordered Sameh Fahmi and seven other former Oil Ministry officials to remain in custody for 15 days pending further investigation.
Prosecutors questioned them for hours about the much-criticized gas deal which the prosecutor general said has cost Egypt millions of dollars.
The contracts have come in for renewed criticism following the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak, with critics pointing to the deals as an example of the cronyism prevalent in the former government.
