CBS is reporting that flames were spewing from the Egyptian gas pipeline that carries gas from Egypt to Israel and Jordan, for seven hours, after "unindentified assailants" blow it up. Blast hits Egypt's gas pipeline to Israel, Jordan
(AP) EL-ARISH, Egypt (AP) — Masked assailants blew up the Egyptian pipeline that carries gas to Israel and Jordan early on Monday, starting a fire that burned for hours and disrupting the flow of the gas, security officials said. The blast was the third to hit the strategic pipeline since an uprising overthrew Egypt's longtime leader Hosni Mubarak in February.
No one claimed responsibility for the explosion but disgruntled Bedouin tribesmen in the area have been blamed for attacking the pipeline in the past. Islamists opposed to Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel have also been suspected.
Monday's blast targeted a pumping station at a location about 65 miles (100 kilometers) south of the Mediterranean coastal city of El-Arish in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
The security officials said the attackers, armed with assault rifles, arrived in two pickup trucks without number plates and forced the three security guards on duty to leave before placing the explosives and shooting the pipeline's valves to release the gas.
Egyptian gas supplies to Jordan through the pipeline (had been ) expected to double Monday from 50 million cubic feet daily to 100 million cubic feet, according to the official Petra news agency.
In Israel, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Israel "trusts Egyptian authorities to investigate what happened and to ensure such things do not happen again in the future."
This Egyption gas pipeline has been controversial from its start, under the Hosni Mubarek regime. Many in Egypt oppose selling gas to Israel at the favorable prices negotiated by Mubarek. The new government is contractually obligated to continue deliveries, despite growing public opposition.
Mon Jul 04, 2011 at 11:37 PM PT: