CAIRO, July 7 (UPI) -- Nobody is really serious about protecting the Egyptian natural gas pipeline to Israel because of what it represents, a tribal leader said.
A natural gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel and Jordan was bombed this week for the third time since the Egyptian revolution brought an end to Hosni Mubarak's presidency.
Bedouin tribes under an agreement with the ruling military council in Egypt are paid a small fee for guarding the pipeline facilities. The McClatchy news service said the guards aren't armed and don't have up-to-date military equipment such as night-vision goggles.
Ibrahim Abu Elayan, secretary-general of the Arab Tribes Association, told the news service the pipeline is viewed in a negative light.
"Even if you appoint local tribesmen or anyone to guard such a facility, no one would really protect it because they hate the facility, the gas supply to the enemy and the (Mubarak) government that signed such an agreement," he said.
Tribal leaders in the Sinai Peninsula said they wouldn't accept additional security personnel from the military council until officials in the Mubarak regime are prosecuted for the deaths of civilian protesters during the revolution.
Egyptian gas officials said the attack, which disrupted gas supplies upstream, was minor. Supplies had resumed earlier this week.
