Egyptian authorities detained on Tuesday a new suspect in the bombings of the Egyptian natural gas pipeline supplying Israel and Jordan, security sources told Al-Masry Al-Youm.
The pipeline has been blown up ten times in 2011. The security sources did not say which or how many blasts the suspect had been involved in, only noting that he belongs to a jihadist group operating in the Sinai Peninsula.
Last Thursday, a group calling itself Ansar al-Jihad claimed responsibility for the series of bombings.
In a statement circulated in North Sinai, which was also published on the internet, the group vowed to wage a war against what it called "the corrupt [Egyptian] regime and its Jewish and American backers," stressing adherence to the doctrine of "the martyr Imam Osama Bin Laden.
On 13 November, state-run news agency MENA said authorities had detained Mohamed al-Teehi, a senior leader of Al-Takfir wal Hijra (Excommunication and Exodus), a militant extremist group that is also suspected to be involved in the attacks.
State-owned newspaper Rose al-Youssef said on 15 November that Sinai security authorities had arrested two jihadist cadres from this group who took part in the attacks on the pipeline.
The gas export deal signed with Israel during the rule of former President Hosni Mubarak is widely unpopular among Egyptians who believe the deal provides Israel with gas at below-market rates.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
