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Deadly Attacks Heighten Tension in Egypt

Suicide bombers targeting a security checkpoint and a civilian bus killed at least two people in Egypt’s southern Sinai region on Friday, while in the capital, a police officer was killed in an explosion that struck a traffic post, the authorities said. The spate of attacks came just weeks before Egypt is to hold a presidential election, a milestone officials have asserted will help stabilize the country. The Sinai attacks occurred just after dawn in El Tor, the provincial capital, about 70 miles from the popular tourist resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh, the authorities said. One of the bombers approached a military checkpoint, detonating an explosive that killed two officers and the bomber. In the attack on the bus, the driver told state media that the bomber stood on the road that leads to Sharm el-Sheikh, holding what appeared to be a red icebox that presumably contained the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Attack in Libya kills 9 soldiers, police officers

Gunmen attacked a security forces headquarters in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi early Friday, killing nine people and wounding 24, authorities said, blaming an Islamic extremist group allegedly behind the attack of a U.S. diplomatic post there. A security official said the attack started when dozens of gunmen opened fire with machine guns and mortars. The onslaught lasted for an hour, with the fighting heard miles away. Libyan commandos later arrived and fought the attackers, though the official said they suffered heavy casualties. A statement issued by the interim government and read by Cabinet spokesman Ahmed al-Amin put the death toll at nine people. Milad al-Zowi, a commando spokesman, said the dead were six army commandos and three police officers. Al-Zowe said that three soldiers and a police officer were missing after the battle. A local hospital official said some of the slain troops were […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Looming Energy Crisis Again Confronts Egypt’s Leaders

A growing energy shortage that helped inflame the protests against President Mohamed Morsi before his ouster last year is returning to vex Egypt’s new military-led government. Festering complaints by international energy companies that Egypt has failed to pay them for pumping its petroleum or to allow them promised gas to export spilled into the open on Thursday. BG, the British company that is one of the country’s biggest gas producers, warned in a statement that its Egyptian liquefied natural gas business “is increasingly at risk” without “concerted action from the Egyptian government.” A joint venture partly owned by the Italian oil giant Eni cited similar reasons more than a year ago when it closed the only other Egyptian plant making liquefied gas, which can be shipped as well as transported by a pipeline. BG’s statement was a blunt reminder of the challenges still facing the new government, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BG Group: Egyptian operations in doubt

Future operations in the natural gas sector in Egypt are at risk because of poor reservoir performance and domestic offtake, BG Group said Thursday. BG Group announced its first quarter operations were hurt by issues with its liquefied natural gas business in Egypt. "Group production volumes for the first quarter were consistent with our anticipated seasonal phasing, although production entitlement from Egypt was lower than expected as domestic offtake remains well above contractual commitments and reservoir performance deteriorates," interim Executive Chairman Andrew Gould said in a statement . BG Group said that no cargoes of LNG left Egypt during the first quarter and profits from that sector of its operations were down 7 percent compared with the previous quarter. In terms of production, the company said it produced 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Egypt, down 35 percent from fourth quarter 2013. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Egypt: Suicide bombers hit in Sinai, kill soldier

Security officials say two suicide bombers have struck in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, killing one soldier and wounding nine people. The officials say the attacks happened early on Friday in the region of el-Tor. In the first attack, the bomber targeted an army checkpoint. One soldier died and five were wounded in the explosion. The second bomber stepped out on a road and blew himself up in front of a bus. Four passengers were wounded from that explosion. The officials say body parts of the bombers littered the sites of the attacks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Insurgent attacks in Sinai have surged since the military’s ouster last July of Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BG Group’s Egypt Woes Continue

BG Group PLC on Thursday reported an 8% fall in first-quarter net profit because of ongoing issues in Egypt, where the company’s output fell and gas that would have been exported has been diverted to the domestic market. BG said volumes from Egyptian LNG were severely restricted with no cargoes lifted by the company in the first quarter. The U.K.’s third-largest natural gas producer posted a net profit of $1.11 billion for the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of $1.21 billion for the first quarter of 2014. "As a result of the challenges in Egypt, the group’s 2014 production is now expected to be at the lower end of the guidance range," said interim Chief Executive Andrew Gould. Mr. Gould took the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BG Group's Egypt Woes Continue

BG Group PLC on Thursday reported an 8% fall in first-quarter net profit because of ongoing issues in Egypt, where the company’s output fell and gas that would have been exported has been diverted to the domestic market. BG said volumes from Egyptian LNG were severely restricted with no cargoes lifted by the company in the first quarter. The U.K.’s third-largest natural gas producer posted a net profit of $1.11 billion for the three months ended March 31, compared with a profit of $1.21 billion for the first quarter of 2014. "As a result of the challenges in Egypt, the group’s 2014 production is now expected to be at the lower end of the guidance range," said interim Chief Executive Andrew Gould. Mr. Gould took the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Military Aid for Egyptians Loses Support in the Senate

Senator Patrick J. Leahy, chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees foreign aid, said Tuesday that he would not support additional military aid to Egypt in the wake of mass death sentences handed out by Egyptian courts this week, adding significant pressure on the Obama administration to shift course. For months, Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, has led a lonely effort to sever American support to one of its most stalwart allies in the Middle East after the military’s overthrow of Egypt’s elected Islamist government. That push appears to be gaining steam. “I’m not prepared to sign off on the delivery of additional aid for the Egyptian military,” Mr. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said on the Senate floor. “I’m not prepared to do that until we see convincing evidence the government is committed to the rule of law.” On Monday, an Egyptian court sentenced the top […]

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Libya Ends Suspension of Crude Loadings From Zueitina Terminal

Libya opened the way for oil exports to resume from the eastern port of Zueitina by revoking a legal clause known as force majeure after rebels returned the terminal to government control earlier this month. The 70,000 barrel-a-day facility is ready to receive tankers for loading, Mohamed Elharari, spokesman of state-run National Oil Corp., said today in a text message. An agreement reached on April 6 provided for the rebels to hand over control of Zueitina and Hariga, two of the four ports they seized in July, in return for an official amnesty and salary payments claimed by defectors from Libya’s Petroleum Facilities Guard. “It seems the government has been making a renewed effort for progress,” Richard Mallinson, an analyst at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London , said by e-mail. “It still seems to be a complicated situation on the ground, and the market will want to see a […]

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Egyptian court seeks death sentence for Brotherhood leader, 682 supporters

An Egyptian court handed down a death sentence on the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and 682 supporters, intensifying a crackdown on the movement that could trigger protests and political violence ahead of an election next month. A death penalty for Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhood’s general guide, will infuriate members of the Brotherhood which has been the target of raids, arrests and bans since President Mohamed Mursi was forced from power by the military in July. The movement says it is committed to peaceful activism. But some Brotherhood members fear pressure from security forces and the courts could drive some young members to violence against the movement’s old enemy the Egyptian state. In a separate case, the court handed down a final capital punishment ruling for 37 others. The 37 death sentences were part of a final judgment on 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters who were […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple