Egypt's gas pipeline will be attacked again

The gas pipeline between Egypt and Israel will be attacked again, according to the Lebanese As-Safir newspaper. The newspaper interviewed an anonymous tribal leader in the Sheikh Zuwayed district of El-Arish who insisted that the pipeline, which has already been attacked seven times this year, will be targeted again. “The government and the military council want to give gas to the Jews,” the leader told the newspaper. “But the people want to fight these Israelis; all Egyptians reject the gas deal with Israel,” he insisted. He added that he expects the government will resume pumping gas to Israel within two months, but that it will be attacked again. However, he refused to disclose the identity of the attackers. The gas pipeline was attacked last Thursday for the sixth time since the uprising against former president Hosni Mubarak and the seventh time this year. Earlier today, technicians and engineers in GASCO, the Egyptian Natural Gas Company, began repairs on the pipeline which they said would take ten days. A source in the company said that the explosion took place in the line that feeds gas to Jordan and Israel and which also pumps gas to houses, power plants and factories in the city of El-Arish. “[The attackers] dug below the line and put explosions in two points separated by 20 metres,” the source explained. He added that the tight security around the gas pressure reducing stations and operating rooms forced the attackers to randomly plant the explosions in other areas along the pipeline in order to ensure a halt to the pumping of gas. The source also added that the Arish Pipeline is 280 metres long, and no country in the world has the capacity to secure its entire pipeline.