CAIRO: After a 45 day absence, gas has returned to Israel and Jordan via Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, government officials here said over the weekend. On the Israeli and Jordanian side, officials also confirmed the resumption of gas from Egypt after they had been halted on April 27 when gunmen blew a hole in a section of the pipeline near the northern Sinai town of al-Arish. That attack had forced the shutting down of valves controlling the flow of gas from the main terminal in Port Said on the Mediterranean coast, disrupting the flow of gas into Israel and Jordan. It was the second such attack on the pipeline in a month, following an attempt by unidentified armed men to blow up the pipeline on March 27. On that occasion, the explosive devices planted by the attackers had failed to detonate. They were later defused by Egyptian security forces. BM
