Cairo Criminal Court decided to adjourn to Sunday the trial session of former oil minister Sameh Fahmy and five other defendants over charges of squandering public funds and profiteering from a deal for exporting the Egyptian gas to Israel.
Fahmy, together with Business Tycoon Hussein Salem, were both sentenced to 15 years in jail in June 2012 for squandering public funds in a gas deal with Israel.
Fahmy submitted an appeal against the original convictions and the court ordered a retrial. Salem, however, still faces a 15-year sentence and has not appealed his verdict as he was convicted in absentia.
Egypt agreed to provide Israel with natural gas in 2005 in a deal built on the landmark 1979 peace accords. The public prosecution claimed the agreement lost Egypt over $714 million.