Sinai pipeline sabotaged for third time in six months

               Saboteurs blew up an Egyptian natural gas pipeline in Sinai early Monday, the third such attack in some six months, forcing a shutdown in supplies to Israel and Jordan. Egyptian officials said a car parked near the pipeline in the Bir Al-Abd area, some 80 kilometers from El-Arish, shortly before an explosion that sent flames into the sky. They said it appeared a bomb was activated remotely. Emergency services were deployed to the area to try to bring the fire under control. No injuries were reported. It was the third attack since February, when an uprising toppled former President Hosni Mubarak and saw power handed over to a military council. Previous explosions in April and February closed the pipeline for weeks. In April, Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf asked for the revision of all contracts to supply gas abroad, including to Israel. He said the contracts would be revisited so gas would be sold with "deserved prices that achieve the highest returns for Egypt."(23,00)