Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Scimitar Hydrocarbons, SIY:ASE -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yarek Szolomicki who wrote (696)	12/22/1999 7:03:00 PM
From: Yarek Szolomicki	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 864

Israel-Egypt Agree Gas Pipeline Deal By Howard Goller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said Wednesday that Egypt had agreed to sell it natural gas through what Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office dubbed a ``Pipeline of Peace.' After years of negotiations running alongside the strains of Middle East peacemaking, Barak's office said gas would be piped from El-Arish in Egypt to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and later to Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. Barak, who came to power in July, also stepped into Israel's negotiations with the Palestinians during the night but his meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat failed to clinch a deal on the planned Israeli handover of more West Bank land and release of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli-Palestinian talks at a Jerusalem hotel ended without agreement. Israel and Egypt have held talks off and on for the past four years on a deal whereby Israel would buy 2.2 billion cubic meters of Egyptian gas a year under a 20-year contract from 2002. But political disputes got in the way. ``Egypt's Ambassador to Israel Mohammed Bassiouny today informed the prime minister... of the Egyptian government's decision to export natural gas to Israel,' Barak's office said in a statement. Israel has looked to several countries to provide natural gas for the Israel Electric Corp. As Israel's neighbor, Egypt was considered the cheapest source. Egypt in 1979 became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel. The pipeline to Israel is due to be completed within two years by an Israeli-Egyptian partnership, the statement said. Syria and Lebanon are still formally at war with Israel, but Damascus only last week resumed peace talks with Israel. Barak's statement did not name the companies involved but a source familiar with the negotiations said the Israeli partner was the Merhav group of companies, currently involved in an oil refinery project in Alexandria. Barak's Election Said To Have Boosted Prospects Since taking office, Barak has revived peace moves that stalled with both the Palestinians and Syria under his right-wing predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu and warmed ties with Egypt and Jordan. ``In effect the most advanced stage in this process began with Barak's election,' the source said. He said the resumption last week of Israeli peace talks with Syria after a nearly four-year break made it easier to close the deal. On the Palestinian front, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy predicted during the day that a deal would be reached in the coming days on the transfer of five percent more of the West Bank to Palestinian rule -- part of a September peace deal. Under six years of peace deals, the Palestinians have already taken over parts of the West Bank and Gaza. But in the latest talks, they demand more densely populated areas than Israel has offered. Israeli peace negotiator Oded Eran told reporters Israel's government would decide on the prisoner issue by the beginning of next week. Israel has promised to free Palestinian prisoners for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Underscoring the obstacles to peace, Israeli soldiers mistakenly fired rubber-coated metal bullets at a Palestinian school bus Wednesday on the outskirts of Hebron and wounded a 15-year-old boy being driven to school, the Israeli army said. It said the troops were firing at Palestinian youths in the area who were stoning Israeli cars but an inquiry found the soldier had violated orders and would be punished. The teen-ager lost two teeth when the bullet hit him in the face. Levy told Israel Radio that cabinet ministers would meet to determine the government line ahead of Israeli talks resuming with Syria in the United States on January 3. He said Israel hoped to forge an agreement of principles with Damascus during up to two weeks of talks in the state of West Virginia.