An Egyptian court overturned a ruling outlawing controversial sales of natural gas to Israel, but said the prices must match world markets.

While it ruled in favor of the government's decision to export natural gas to Israel, the Egyptian Supreme Administrative Court found that prices and quantity of the gas sold to the Jewish state should not be discounted.

The decision handed down Saturday overturns a ban issued on gas exports to Israel by a lower court in November 2008 after a group of lawyers accused the government of pumping gas to Israel at rates lower than worldwide prices.

Iran is peeved at its northern neighbors over a decision to exclude the Islamic Republic from a meeting of Caspian Sea states on Thursday. 

Iran's top diplomat, Manouchehr Mottaki, said today he was outraged that Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan plan to meet in the Kazakh city of Aktau without Iran, according to the website of Iran's state-owned English-language Press TV satellite news channel.

"In our view the meeting runs contrary to Iran's national interests," Mottaki said.

The latest International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran's nuclear program said the country had boosted its nuclear capacity and supply of enriched uranium about 25% to 30% since February. 

Kemp, in an extensive e-mail to The Times, said the report showed Iran's steady progress in installing its centrifuges, but also said Iran is "suffering several performance problems" that suggest the uranium-enriching machines aren't quite up to snuff. 

A South Korean firm announced Sunday that it had completed construction of a $2.1-billion natural-gas processing plant in Iran, the latest sign that years of Western efforts to isolate Iran economically were not not having a huge effect.

South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction Co., the country's No. 2 builder, said Sunday it had finished the plant in Assaluyeh, in southern Iran, according to South Korea's official Yonhap news agency.

The company began construction of the plant in 2003. It will be able to produce 19 million tons of natural gas a year.

The announcement comes a day after Iran announced it had signed a $3.2-billion deal with China for exploitation of the gigantic South Pars natural-gas field in the Persian Gulf.

China's vote of confidence in the Iranian energy market came, coincidentally,  just shortly after Chinese leader Wen Jiabao voiced worry about the solvency of the United States.

A huge spat has broken out between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain over comments made by an Iranian cleric earlier this month claiming dominion over the island nation.

Ali Akbar Natiq Nuri, an advisor to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed Bahrain was an integral part of Iran that was conceded by Iran's Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi. Bahrain received its independence from the British in 1971, but had been ruled by Iran on and off over the last couple of millenniums. 

Bahrain made it crystal clear that it did not tolerate any statements undermining its sovereignty. In the last few days, Bahrain suspended talks over the importation of natural gas from the Islamic Republic and barred Iranian ships from reaching its shores, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, Iranians backtracked by reaffirming their full recognition of Bahraini sovereignty.

The Highest Administrative Court has dealt a serious blow to the Egyptian opposition by overturning an earlier verdict banning the exportation of Egyptian natural gas to the state of Israel.

The court ruled Monday that the government acted within its jurisdiction when it decided to export surplus natural gas to Israel in 2005. The decision overturned an earlier verdict that found the executive branch needed approval of Parliament before it could provide Israel with 1.7-billion cubic meters of natural gas a year.

As public outrage soared over the Israeli attack on Gaza last week, Egypt’s administrative court upheld an earlier verdict banning the exportation of gas to Israel.

In response, the government filed an appeal that the court is expected to examine on Feb. 2. However, the court reportedly ordered that the ban be implemented immediately. Last year, the gas deal with Israel elicited much controversy among intellectuals and activists who decided to take the government to court.

The court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs twice, but it is still to be seen whether the verdicts will be enforced. “Our government has a history of not executing court verdicts, but in this particular case it would be wise to change this attitude,” said lawyer Ibrahim Yousry, a former ambassador and one of the plaintiffs, as quoted in the Daily News Egypt.

“It is not in Egypt's political interest to continue exporting gas to Israel. There is a huge popular sentiment against it, and in light of what is currently happening in Gaza, this cannot go on," he added.

This new verdict resonated strongly with many Egyptians, who are following the events in Gaza with great interest and sympathy for Palestinian civilians killed in the fighting. Arab satellite channels air coverage, with pictures of slain Palestinians, on a daily basis. Although Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in the late 1970s, many Egyptians still object to full normalization of relations with the Jewish state.

“It is a good time to stop sending gas to Israel in reprisal for the savage attack on Gaza and in order to vent our outrage. Please stop exporting it so that God can bestow mercy upon you,” commented reader Abdullah Mohamed on the website of Al-Masry Al-Youm independent daily.

— Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Gas pipelines. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency

It may or may not be the most joyous on record, but this Christmas in Beirut is definitely the brightest in recent years.

The country has returned to calm after an agreement in May put an end to a spur of civil violence. Tourists and Lebanese expatriates are flooding the country. Officials claim that many would-be visitors couldn't make it for the holidays here because hotels and flights are fully booked.

Lebanon’s tourism ministry announced this month that the number of visitors will reach 1.3 million people in 2008, which is its most since 2004, a stable year that preceded difficult times marked by a string of political assassinations, a war with Israel and internal fights.   

Christmas is a special holiday in Lebanon, which boasts the largest  Christian population in the Middle East. Streets teem with scintillating decorations and sparkling Christmas trees.

But despite the general jovial mood, Christmas is also a reminder of the chronic conundrums of the country. To many, for instance, the spurt of decorative lights seems absurd in a country suffering from serious energy shortages.