Egyptian Lawyer Seeks To Annul Land Deals

Egyptian Lawyer Seeks To Annul Land Deals

An Egyptian lawyer has filed a lawsuit demanding the government cancel the sales since 1998 of all state land not sold by auction.

The lawyer, Essam Ali Abdel Halim, said the suit calls for the cancellation of all contracts that were awarded to investors without being put up for auction.

He said his lawsuit includes land sold directly by NUCA to universities and foreign schools in new suburbs on the outskirts of Cairo, among them the American University in Cairo, which has built a new campus east of the city.

Abdel Halim's document had a court reference number, indicating that the court will consider the merits of the case.

It is the latest challenge to state land sales since a court in June annulled the purchase by Egypt's biggest listed land developer, Talaat Moustafa (TMG), for its flagship Madinaty real estate project.

Although the 1998 law stipulates that state land can only be sold through a process of competitive bidding, NUCA sold tracts of land directly to single developers until as late as 2006, basing its sales on legislation that preceded the 1998 law.

No court date has yet been announced to hear Abdel Halim's lawsuit.

REUTERS/Williams/Yinka