CAIRO: Plans for a series of strikes to protest the export of Egyptian natural gas to Israel have been put on hold until the results of a popular mock trial are submitted to President Hosni Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif. In mid-May, the popular campaign to prevent Egyptian gas exports gave the government an ultimatum: halt gas exportation by June 5 or there would be protests in front of the Ministry of Petroleum, the Eastern Mediterranean Gas (EMG) Company and the pumping stations in Damietta and Al-Arish. A meeting of the committee leading the campaign reached a decision to delay the protests until the findings of an independent mock trial were submitted to the government to ascertain their reaction. The mock trial - which is to be presided over by former members of the judiciary - was due to take place late last month at the Lawyers' Syndicate. It was called off after the janitor disappeared with the key to the meeting hall, under orders from the head of the syndicate, campaign members claimed. The trial has been rescheduled for next Monday at the Journalists' Syndicate where further discussions will be held to determine the campaign's future plans. Former judge Yehia El Gamal, who is overseeing the trial, said in a statement that the trial would be carried out according to Egyptian law and no preconceived notions about the issue would color the verdict. He added that the protests had been delayed until the government gets a chance to react to the verdict. Even though the verdict will not be legally binding, El Gamal promised it would be in line with the verdict an independent Egyptian judiciary would reach. Despite the delay to the proposed strikes, campaign spokesman MP Esmat El-Sadat indicated that the June 5 deadline (which coincides with Egypt s 1967 defeat against Israel known as Al Naksa, or the catastrophe) would not be the end of the campaign, but merely the beginning. He drew parallels with Al-Naksa, adding that after the defeat there was a long road to victory and that the campaign would not stop until the gas stops flowing to Israel. Drawing further parallels, the motto of the campaign is "No to Al-Naksa. The campaign brought together figures from across the opposition spectrum in a committee that formulated a plan of action against the contentious deal reached in 2005 to provide 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Israel. The committee driving the campaign is made up of writers, judges, intellectuals, MPs and energy experts. "After all this talk of national security and regional balance and the rights of the Palestinian people and the local need for energy, this [gas exportation to Israel] is a real catastrophe, a previous campaign statement said. The campaign has adopted a multi-pronged approach in the executive, judicial and economic branches to achieve its objective.
