CARIO : Natural Gas sypply from Egypt to Israel was temporarily suspended as a security precaution after an explosion at a terminal in the northern Sinai Peninsula.
The head of Egypt's natural gas company said the explosion at the el-Arish gas terminal was triggered by "a small amount of gas leaking," the Associated Press reported. State television initially reported that sabotage was suspected.
The blast set off a fire that could be seen for dozens of miles. The regional governor, Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, said the fire was brought under control by mid-morning, the AP reported. Technicians had to shut off valves controlling the flow of gas from the terminal into pipelines transporting gas to Israel, Syria and Jordan.
In recent days, Israelis have worried about the possibility of a cutoff of natural gas shipments from Egypt as a result of the turmoil and political uncertainty there.
