Foreigners have forged their ownership of 100 housing units in Coral Beach Resort in Sharm el-Sheikh, according to Assistant Justice Minister Hassan Badrawy. "One foreigner alone falsified their ownership of 800 km in Sinai," Badrawy said. According to the assistant justice minister, the foreigners involved have resorted to international arbitration in their defense. "Arbitration doesn't apply in cases violationg internal public order," Badrawy said. "This is why the Ismailia attorney general has challenged 173 court orders that were issued in favor of these foreigners." There are legal restrictions on foreign ownership of land in Sinai. The peninsula was occupied by Israel during the 1967 war and returned to Egypt in pieces between 1979 and 1982. Discussing an interpellation on foreign ownership in Sinai, MP Farid Ismail said the government is unaware of an Israeli plot to falsify ownership of land and real estate in Sinai, and alleged that the Egyptian Sinai Tourist Development Company is a facade for a German company that forges foreign ownership. "The company managed to falsify ownership of 1000 flats in Coral Beach and 278 acres of land in Sharm el-Sheikh for Israelis," he said. South Sinai Secretary General Gamal el-Ghamry, for his part, said: "We do our due diligence on any new company applying to work in Sinai." Meanwhile, the Ismailia Misdemeanor Court held its first session to hear the testimonies of defendants accused of forging the title deeds of state-owned land in Sinai and selling it to foreigners. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
