Saboteurs bomb Egypt gas pipeline to Israel, Jordan

Saboteurs bombed an Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula today for the third time since February, cutting supplies to Israel and Jordan. Officials said a car had parked near the pipeline in the Bir al-Abd area, 80 kilometres from the northern Sinai town of El-Arish, shortly before the explosion.

They said the bomb was activated remotely. North Sinai governor Abdel Wahab Mabrouk condemned the bombing as "terrorist act meant to jeopardise the stability and security of Sinai," the official MENA news agency quoted him as saying. A second device was found near the bomb blast "but the army has dealt with it before it exploded", said Magdi Tawfiq, the head of the Egyptian Natural Gas Company (GASCO). He told MENA the fire was now under control and that a
committee had been set up to investigate the explosion. "The company will work to fix the pipeline in Sinai as soon as the fire is completely out," he said. Emergency services were deployed to the area to try to bring the fire under control, an official said. Witnesses said the flames reached as high as 10 metres. There were no immediate reports of casualties. It was the third attack on the gas pipeline since February, when an uprising toppled former president Hosni Mubarak and saw power handed over to a military council.  On April 27, the pipeline in Al-Sabil area of north Sinai was also attacked, cutting off international gas supplies. In February, attackers used explosives against the pipeline in the town of Lihfren in north Sinai, near the Gaza
Strip. There was also a failed attempt to attack the pipeline in March.
 Jordan, which buys 95 per cent of its energy needs, imports about 240 million cubic feet (6.8 million cubic metres) of Egyptian gas a day, or 80% of its
electricity requirements. Jordanian officials have been in talks with their Egyptian counterparts "to determine the damage and discuss solutions," Jordan's state-run Petra news agency said. "Jordan will face unusual problems this summer if this
issue continues," Abdul Fattah Nsur, director of Jordan Central Electricity Generation Company, told Petra.