Court throws out case calling for end of Israel-Egypt treaty
Al-Masry Al-Youm Tue, 26/02/2013 - 20:07
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/court-throws-out-case-calling-end-israel-egypt-treaty

The Cairo Administrative Court ruled Tuesday that it has no jurisdiction
over a lawsuit demanding the cancellation of the 1979 peace treaty between
Egypt and Israel. The court said the issue involves state sovereignty, which
is under the president’s purview.

The plaintiffs said Egypt should void its peace deal over ongoing
destruction of Islamic holy sites and the country’s refusal to stop
settlement building in Palestinian territories, which they said is a
violation of United Nations conventions and treaty itself.

The court handed out the same ruling in a similar case last October.

A Freedom and Justice Party figure said Tuesday that the party’s legal
committee is working on a new draft law to amend the peace treaty. It will
be sent to President Mohamed Morsy, so he and the new parliament can review
it after the April-May elections, according to Osama Suleiman, the Freedom
and Justice Party’s secretary general in Beheira Governorate.

The draft law will amend the treaty so the Armed Forces can gain full
control over the Sinai Peninsula, Suleiman added.

The 1979 peace treaty isgned by President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime
Minister Manachem Begin more than 30 years ago bans Egypt from sending armed
troops into the peninsula, allowing only Egyptian police with light weapons
to guard borders with Israel, except in special cases.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm