CAIRO: Companies controlling the natural gas pipeline that delivers gas to Jordan, Israel and Syria have contracted local Bedouin groups in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to protect the pipeline after five attacks already this year. Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported that the managing companies are looking for alternatives to maintain security after a series of blasts have stalled gas transports from Egypt. North Sinai Governor Abdel Wahab Mabrouk said the Egyptian Natural Gas Company had contracted a number of local tribes whose traditional territories the pipeline passes through. Mabrouk told the London-based newspaper Asharq al- Awsat that 6 individuals would be assigned to each of the 31 gas stations, while an unspecified number of other guards would protect the pipeline between those stations. The Egypt-Israel pipeline was attacked Saturday for the third time in July and the fifth time since February. “The investigation is not over yet,” Mabrouk told the paper's Arabic edition of the latest incident. “And we are currently questioning a number of suspects in the incident in order to find those responsible for the planning and implementation of the attack.” Gas flow between Israel and Egypt has been halted since the fourth explosion, on July 4. Mabrouk said repair work on the pipeline has yet to begin. BM
