A court ruled on Tuesday to scrap a contract to sell land to Egyptian developer Talaat Moustafa Group for its mixed-use Medinaty project on the outskirts of Cairo.

There had been reports the land was subject to a legal dispute over the terms of the original government deal made under former housing minister Mohamed Ibrahim Suleiman.   

"The court rules to annul the primary sale contract dated Aug. 1, 2005 and the contract annex dated Dec. 21, 2005 by the New Urban Communities Authority to sell to Arab Company for Projects and Urban Development 8,000 feddans (3,360 hectares) to establish the Medinaty project in New Cairo," judge Hassan Sayed Abdel Aziz said, referring to a Talaat Moustafa unit.

Reacting to the judgement, TMG said the land contract was sound, and the authority would honour its commitment despite the court ruling to scrap the deal.

"The authority will honour its commitments, and the company will implement its commitments to its customers," the developer said in a statement. - Reuters