From: Terje Rod-Larsen <1 To: "[email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Fw: The Media Line MidEast Daily Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2011 01:24:19 +0000 From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Wed Apr 27 03:38:31 2011 Subject: The Media Line MidEast Daily ;,YouTu ;1 -wit LFacebo be ter ok V. Archives New Blast Halts Gas Flow from Egypt to Israel For the second time since February and less than one week after prosecutors indicted officials responsible for the deal to sell Egyptian natural gas to Israel, the pipeline supplying Israel and Jordan has been bombed. (Photo: Egyptian state-television covers the blast.] The explosion occurred on Wednesday near the northern Sinai Peninsula town of Al-Arish. The contract to sell gas to Israel, which buys 40% of its natural gas from Egypt, has been a topic for discussion since the unrest which ousted Hosni Mubarak from his 30-year presidency began. Prosecutors allege that the multi-billion dollar deal was a "squandering of state resources: Observers have viewed the future of the gas deal as a harbinger of future relations between the Jewish state and Egypt. In addition to the February bombing, explosives that failed to detonate were found at the site on March 27. Syria Appears to be Preparing Attack on Rebels Reports from Syria appear to indicate that forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Asad are preparing to mount an offensive against rebels based in the coastal town of Banias. Farther south, in Dara'a, eyewitnesses report bodies remaining in the streets uncollected since being killed by Al-Asad's troops. The sound of gunfire is still heard while the city is sealed by soldiers and lines of communication, water and electricity have been cut. With an estimated 120 killed over the weekend, rights groups peg the total loss of life in excess of 400 so far, exclusive of the most recent ki