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Sunday, April 08, 2012

Yet another gas pipeline explosion in Egypt

From Reuters:
An explosion hit the Egyptian pipeline carrying gas to Israel and Jordan on Monday for 14th time since the uprising against President Hosni Mubarak began last year, security sources said.

The blast took place in the northern Sinai at the entrance of the Mediterranean coastal town of Al-Arish. Residents in the city told Reuters they had heard the sound of the explosion.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks on the installation that crosses the increasingly volatile Sinai Peninsula. Security in Sinai was relaxed after the fall of Mubarak in 2011 as the police presence thinned out across Egypt.

The pipeline has been shut since an explosion on February 5.
Do you think that the saboteurs care in the least that these explosions hurt their fellow Arabs in Jordan more than they hurt Israel?

Egypt promised to set up a new pipeline to Gaza to run its power plant in the next few months; I don't know if  that pipeline would be affected by these repeated explosions as well, but my impression is that the explosions have been occurring on the Port Said-El Arish segment, which affects both Israeli and Jordanian gas. Which means that it would affect gas to Gaza as well.

In a couple of years Israel should be getting enough gas from the massive Mediterranean fields under its control, so we'll see then if Jordan and Syria ask for Israel to export gas to them!