EGYPT’S hated President Hosni Mubarak has quit as head of the country’s ruling party. Other leaders, including Mubarak’s son Gamal and secretary-general Safwat el-Sharif, have also resigned in a gesture to anti-government protesters occupying Tahrir Square in Cairo.
\nHowever, Mubarak remains as president.
\nThousands of demonstrators have occupied the square for 12 days, vowing to stay until he steps down.
\nEarlier, the military surrounded the square, but soldiers continued to let people join the growing rally.
\nYesterday, a gas terminal was blown up in the country’s northern Sinai Peninsula, starting a massive fire that could be seen dozens of miles away. It is believed the attack was part of on-going protests against President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
\nMeanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned the Middle East faces a “perfect storm” of unrest, with the looming risk of even greater instability.
\nIn a speech to a Munich security conference, she said: “The region is being battered by a perfect storm of powerful trends. “This is what has driven demonstrators into the streets of Tunis, Cairo, and cities throughout the region. The status quo is simply not sustainable.”
\nNo injuries were reported in the explosion, and the blaze was quickly brought under control after the gas flow was shut off. The governor of the region, Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, said he suspected “sabotage”, but provided no details.
\nAnti-government protesters have been demanding Mubarak’s removal from power for the past two weeks. The Sinai Peninsula, home to Bedouin tribesmen, has been the scene of clashes between residents and security forces. It borders both Israel and the Gaza Strip, ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas.
\nThe blast went off at a gas terminal in the northern Sinai town of el-Arish, several hundred yards away from the local airport.
\nMabrouk told Egypt’s Nile News TV that the fire was brought under control by mid-morning, after valves allowing the flow of gas from the terminal into pipelines were shut off. The pipelines transport gas from Egypt’s Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to Israel, Syria and Jordan.
\nThere were unconfirmed reports about the cause of the blast.
\nIsrael Radio quoted officials at the terminal as saying that a small explosive device was planted there and then detonated. The blaze was visible from rooftops of homes next to the Gaza-Egypt border, about 44 miles away.
\nA steady pillar of flames rose high into the air, but there was no smoke, and the fire died down by mid-morning, residents said.
\nThe gas pipelines have come under attack in the past. Bedouin tribesmen attempted to blow up the pipeline last July as tensions intensified between them and the Egyptian government, which they accuse of discrimination and of ignoring their plight. Israel relies on the gas pipeline to meet its energy needs and spends billions to bring natural gas from Egypt.
\nIsraeli officials said it was not clear whether the explosion affected the pipeline leading to Israel.
\nChen Ben Lulu, spokesman of Israel’s Infrastructure Ministry, said: “At this stage, the gas supply to Israel was stopped according to procedure in emergency scenarios.
\n“We are not sure what caused the explosion.” Egypt has potential natural gas reserves of 62 trillion cubic feet, the 18th largest in the world.
\nSource: The Sun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EGYPT’S hated President Hosni Mubarak has quit as head of the country’s ruling party. Other leaders, including Mubarak’s son Gamal and secretary-general Safwat el-Sharif, have also resigned in a gesture to anti-government protesters occupying Tahrir Square in Cairo. However, Mubarak remains as president. Thousands of demonstrators have occupied the square for 12 days, vowing to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\n