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Egyptian natural gas exports to Israel and Jordan may be halted for as much as two weeks after an explosion damaged a pipeline in the Sinai Desert yesterday, Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy told state television.

The incident at El Arish in the northeastern Sinai was an act of “terror” carried out by “foreign hands,” state TV said, while the Oil Ministry said a gas leak caused the blast. It may take one to two weeks to repair the pipeline, Fahmy told state TV.

Meanwhile, the East Mediterranean Gas Company said the pipeline from El-Arish, Egypt, to Ashkelon, Israel, is intact and was not damaged by the explosion. There were unconfirmed reports about the cause of the blast. Israel Radio quoted officials at the terminal as saying that a small explosive device was planted there and then detonated.




i think either one of two things happened. either the egyptian government caused the explosion as a means to justify some kind of military crackdown, or it was an accident, and mubarak sought to make the most of it, and blame it on the anti-government protesters.

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I wondered about that too.  Combine that with the removal of foreign press and it began to look like the govt was getting ready to end these protests for good.

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They have been trying to blame this whole uprising on foreign influence.  It was pretty scarey when journalists started being attacked. That alone is enough to tell you that the govt doesn't want the world to see what is going on.  (as in what they are doing to people) It it hard to shut things up these days with youtube, twitter, etc.  To me, that is one of the best things about this technology.  It is hard to keep information away from people.  Years ago it was so easy to keep your "subjects" in the dark and under control. It will be interesting to see how this plays out....

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I'm beginning to think there is an even greater danger that this Muslim Brotherhood will get involved in any new govt.  

“There is a real fear they will hijack (the movement) ... The problem with these people is they will say you want a democracy, fine, you get elected in a democracy. Then you get Iranian version of democracy where they shoot their own people,” said Naguib Sawiris, a leading Egyptian businessman who owns a  newspaper and TV station.

Sawiris believes countries like Iran, Syria and Qatar are looking to destabilize Egypt and turn it into another radical Islamic state.

And it wouldnt surprise me to learn this group bombed the pipeline.

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Egypt's vice president says the government will not tolerate prolonged anti-government protests in Cairo's main square, where hundreds of thousands of people gathered Tuesday in the latest effort to force the ouster of long-serving President Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's state-run MENA news agency quotes Vice President Omar Suleiman as saying that a crisis triggered by 16 days of anti-Mubarak protests in Tahrir Square must end "as soon as possible." Suleiman was speaking late Tuesday to a group of Egyptian newspaper editors.

MENA says Suleiman told the editors that the presence of anti-Mubarak activists and satellite television stations in the square was making Egyptian citizens "hesitant to go to work" and disrupting daily life. He accused the satellite television stations of "insulting" Egypt, without naming them.

But, Suleiman also is quoted as saying the government does not want to deal with Egyptian society using "police tools" and prefers to use dialogue to try to address the protesters' demands.

Hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Tahrir Square Tuesday in one of the biggest protests of a two-week-old uprising seeking an immediate end to Mr. Mubarak's nearly 30 years in power. Thousands remained in the square Wednesday, after spending another night in makeshift shelters.

Other activists protested for a second day outside Egypt's parliament, several blocks from the square. Some had slept on the ground overnight, hoping to block access to the building. They demanded the resignation of lawmakers elected late last year in a vote they say was rigged in favor of the ruling party.

Mr. Mubarak has responded to the protests by declaring he will not to run for a sixth term in a September election and offering other political concessions, but the protesters have rejected those pledges as superficial.

Suleiman also is quoted as warning against plans by some protesters for a campaign of civil disobedience, saying such a development would be "very dangerous" to society.

Thousands of Egyptian university professors and lawyers also made their first appearance at the Cairo protest site Tuesday, while anti-Mubarak activists held substantial protests in other cities such as Alexandria.

Earlier Tuesday, Vice President Suleiman said Mr. Mubarak issued decrees establishing separate committees to draft constitutional reforms and monitor their implementation. The reforms are aimed at relaxing eligibility rules for the presidency and imposing term limits - key demands of Egypt's opposition.

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I noticed today that very little news is devoted to the protests anymore.  But just as I write this, Fox News reports that Mubarak May be ready to step down in a few hours.  

I tellya, this guy may be bad for the people in Egypt, but I'm truly worried about what will take his place.  What the impact will be for Israel and Western Europe and the US.

I'd much rather see him make massive reforms instead of just stepping down.