Egypt Gas Pipeline Attacked

[Book]

http://covers.magazine-agent.com/images/cover_image.aspx?i=ML8829.gif&h=80

Egypt Gas Pipeline Attacked

By SUMMER SAID And JOSHUA MITNICK

An Egyptian gas pipeline in the Sinai peninsula was attacked Saturday, cutting off supplies to Jordan and Israel.

The pipeline was attacked by "subversive elements," Egyptian state TV reported. There were no further details on those responsible, but the attack was the latest sign of deteriorating security in the key buffer between the Egyptian mainland and Israel.

Conditions on the Sinai have been unsettled by the power vacuum created by nearly two weeks of massive demonstrations against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak.

In a sign of the rising tensions, Bedouin in the northern Sinai on Friday used rocket-propelled grenades to attack the headquarters of Egypt's state security in El Arish, a town close to Egypt's border crossing into Gaza, according to witnesses. The pipeline attack occurred in the same general area.

Earlier in the week, Mohammed Abu Ras, the leader of a Bedouin tribe who enjoyed friendly relations with the Egyptian forces, was gunned down outside a meeting between tribal leaders and Egyptian army generals, in a vendetta killing that fed fears of rising conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week agreed to let Egypt deploy 800 additional troops to the Sinai to replace the police and stabilize the area, though the two countries' peace accords stipulate the peninsula should be demilitarized.

Egypt supplies almost all of Jordan's gas needs, amounting to some 240 million cubic feet a day used to fuel power plants as well as for heating and cooking. Egypt is also a major supplier of gas to Israel.

State TV showed a jet of flame rising out of the desert. It appeared the attack affected the Jordan-Syria branch of the pipeline.

The East Mediteranean Gas Co., which buys gas from Egypt and supplies Israel, told customers supplies would be cut temporarily. A spokesman for the Israeli partner in the company said Egypt Gas shut off supply to the entire region to put out a fire and fix the damage to a measuring station on the gas pipeline to Jordan and Syria.

``It's a safety precaution,'' said Merhav spokesman Zeev Feiner. ``Once something happens, you shut down the system.''

A Jordanian official confirmed supplies to Jordan have been cut. "The explosion that took place today on the gas pipeline has led to suspending gas supplies to Jordan," said Ghaleb al-Maabrah head of the Jordanian National Electricity Co. .

The shutdown of gas to Jordan is expected to continue for at least a week while the pipeline is repaired, he said, according to the official Petra news agency.

In the absence of Egyptian gas, Jordan will have to fuel its power stations with expensive diesel fuel, of which the kingdom has a three week stockpile, he said. Switching fuels will cost the kingdom some 3 million Jordanian dinars a day ($4.2 million), he said.

The kingdom imports some 95% of its energy needs at a cost of around 19% of its gross domestic product.

Egypt's petroleum minister confirmed to state TV that gas supplies to a number of countries have been affected.

Sinai Bedouins are widely suspected of having bombed the Jordan-Syria branch in June. That attack followed a series of violent confrontations with police.

One person close to the Sinai Bedouin said Saturday he doubted they were involved in the current attack.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704843304576125510103424894.html

:oo--> dusting for Mossad fingerprints

[Twisted Titan]

They did the exact same thing in Iraq with the oil wells.

All of terror and crisis is manufactured.

ALLL OF IT

[Dogman]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5huw-ts1Q5jlhNQ2IOUlli6gjl5gw?docId=CNG.36fe9f8bbc762c3 ed9f469e5f80934c5.8f1

Saboteurs attack Egypt gas pipeline to Jordan

By Jailan Zayan (AFP) – 7 hours ago

CAIRO — Unknown saboteurs attacked an Egyptian pipeline supplying gas to Jordan, forcing authorities to switch off gas supply from a twin pipeline to Israel, an official told AFP.

The attackers used explosives against the pipeline in the town of Lihfen in northern Sinai, near the Gaza Strip, the official said. It was initially thought the pipeline to Israel was attacked.

"The pipeline to Jordan has been attacked and the supply to Israel has been cut off," the official said.

The army has taken precautionary measures to stop the fire from spreading, the official added, as rescue services were putting out the fire.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible, or whether the attack was linked to the deadly protests against President Hosni Mubarak's rule, which entered their 12th day on Saturday.

"We still don't have details of how it happened," he added.

Israeli public radio quoted an Egyptian official as saying the attack was carried out at dawn, using a small amount of explosives that caused only minor damage.

The fire lasted three hours and was under control, while gas supplies to Israel and Jordan were cut, the official said.

An armed Bedouin group in June threatened to attack the pipeline, security officials said, leading Egyptian authorities to beef up security around the pipeline and terminal.

Police relations with the region's former nomads are often tense, with the Bedouin complaining of routine harassment and discrimination.

Activists accuse the police of exploiting concerns about the pipeline to crack down on the community.

Human rights groups have criticised Egyptian policy towards the Bedouin, who faced harsh police treatment after a series of bombings in Sinai resorts between 2004 and 2006 which killed dozens of Egyptians and foreign tourists.

Egypt supplies about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas, and in December, four Israeli firms signed 20-year contracts worth up to 10 billion dollars (7.4 billion euros) to import Egyptian gas.

The attack came after Israel expressed concern that its natural gas supplies from Egypt could be threatened if a new regime takes power in Cairo.

"We again realise that the Middle East is not a stable region. We must act to ensure our energy security without relying on others," a spokesman for Israel's National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau said on Tuesday.

Israel is concerned that a post-Mubarak regime might not respect the bilateral peace treaty signed three decades ago -- potentially threatening the crucial energy supplies Egypt provides.

A broad swathe of Egypt's opposition, including the powerful Muslim Brotherhood, as well as public opinion, has called for Cairo to stop supplying Israel with gas.

Landau on Monday summoned the heads of Israeli companies that are developing the offshore Tamar gas field -- due to start production in 2013 -- to urge them to push ahead with its timely development, his office said.

Landau told them Tamar's importance was even greater "in these times of unrest in our region." The field, off the port city of Haifa in northern Israel, holds estimated reserves of eight billion cubic metres (280 billion cubic feet).

Israel's Globes financial newspaper reported that Landau's ministry had conducted exercises dealing with emergency scenarios in which gas supplies were cut off. It gave no further details.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7teAVvceaic&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7teAVvceaic&feature=player_embedded)

[ShortJohnSilver]

My take: Mubarak is telling Israel "help me out or I will cut off supplies to you".

[Cobalt]

My take: Mubarak is telling Israel "help me out or I will cut off supplies to you".


Or by Israel which is saying "Time to step in United States and do your sworn duty as the self appointed oil supply police"

[Book]

My take: Mubarak is telling Israel "help me out or I will cut off supplies to you".



The gas to Israel is still flowing fine. The gas to Jordan isn't because the King of Jordan last week fired his entire pro-Israel stooge government trying to placate the people in the street. This just gives Israel the excuse to re-occupy the Sinai Desert "to protect the pipelines" and retaliate against the King of Jordan.

[Ponce]

The state of Israel are the ones committing all this "terrorist" attacks for what ever reasons.....think about it and the why of it.

[mick silver]

our your sons and daughters ready to keep the oil flowing ...

[Ponce]

Well mick, I have no kids so I can only guess that we won't have any oil ::)

[MAGNES]

This stinks, they have contingency plan, there is already talk of occupation of the Sinai
and US warships are in the area in numbers, ready to move.

I am not posting links, I have 2 threads with lots of good links lost in space here.

Get your info from more primary sources online instead of here, it is hard to keep up.
Everyday something big is happening.

GC and WTIC are in play, get ready. lol

Whens the next AIPAC meeting ? Re run 2008 ?

[keehah]

Saboteurs blow up an Egyptian pipeline distribution station in northern Sinai that supplies natural gas to Israel.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/8631585/Gunmen-blow-up-Egypt-gas-pipeline.html

12 Jul 2011

At least four masked gunmen attacked the station, near the town of Al-Arish, about 30 miles west of the Israeli border, in the early hours of Tuesday.

The attackers ordered the guards on duty to leave and then blew up the terminal, starting a fire that could seen from 12 miles away.

There were no reported casualties. It was the fourth attack on facilities supplying Egyptian gas to Israel this year.

Egypt's gas transport company, Gasco, a subsidiary of the national gas company EGAS, had been finalising repairs on a pipeline that supplies gas to Israel and Egypt, and was expected to complete the work over the weekend.

Egypt has been trying to renegotiate gas prices with Israel and Jordan after President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down in February, amid charges of corruption stemming from selling gas to Israel at below market prices, among other things. Israel says it pays market rates.

On July 4, men armed with machineguns forced guards at the same station to flee, then planted explosive charges. Previous attacks on the pipeline on April 27 and on February 5 forced its closure for several weeks.

[keehah]

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2011
http://poorrichards-blog.blogspot.com/2011/11/egypts-gas-pipeline-to-israel-attacked.html

An explosion has hit an Egyptian pipeline supplying natural gas to Israel, making it the eighth assault on the energy route since February.

Witnesses said several masked saboteurs planted explosives under the pipeline, which is located around 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of the town of al-Arish in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, before fleeing, AFP reported on Friday.

The blast caused little damage and did not start a fire because little gas was flowing through the pipeline at the time due to repair work from a previous attack on November 10.

A recent opinion poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Egyptians oppose the terms of the country's gas deal with the Israeli regime.

According to a press TV poll conducted by Synovate, which was released on October 3, seventy three percent of the respondents said they were against gas exports to Israel. Only 9 percent of those surveyed said they agreed with the supplying of gas to the Israeli regime, and 12 percent had no opinion.

For Egyptians, the issue of supplying the Israeli regime with gas has always been a contentious one. Egyptians view Israel as an enemy and oppose engaging in any form of business with the regime.

Egypt's gas supply to Israel has been one of the main economic conditions of the US-sponsored 1979 peace treaty between the two sides.

Under a USD 2.5-billion export deal with Tel Aviv, signed in 2005, the Israeli regime receives around 40 percent of its gas supply from Egypt at a considerably low price.

[Horn]

Egyptians figuring out now that they receive zilch for profit from the lines?

[Horn]

http://www.bloomberg.com/image/i0LY_ctjcmFA.jpg

Tens of thousands of protesters occupied Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand that Egypt’s generals cede power even after they appointed former Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri to form a new government.

One person died in clashes with police in Cairo as protesters rejected the military’s appointment of new Prime Minister Kamal el-Ganzouri and demanded the generals cede power.
Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling army council, said he gave el-Ganzouri “full prerogatives,” state-run television reported yesterday. Hundreds spilled over from Tahrir Square (http://topics.bloomberg.com/tahrir-square/) and started a sit-in in front of the nearby Cabinet building to protest el-Ganzouri’s appointment. One person died in clashes with police today at the site, state-run Nile News reported.
The council said parliamentary elections scheduled to start Nov. 28 won’t be postponed and that it will stay in power until a presidential poll in June. Voting will take place over two days instead of one during each round, the Cabinet said on its Facebook page. In Cairo’s Abassiya Square, a one-day counter- protest backing the military grew into thousands after prayers on Friday.
“It’s a controversial appointment because it didn’t unite people, it divided them,” said Wael Ziada (http://topics.bloomberg.com/wael-ziada/), Cairo-based head of research at EFG-Hermes Holding SAE. “Some protesters don’t believe he is the right figure to take independent decisions in the coming period. The best way forward is to carry on with peaceful elections and for the military council to hand over power to a national rescue government immediately afterward.”



http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-25/egypt-military-asks-ganzouri-to-form-government.html