Egypt to operate against al-Qaida

Egyptian security forces are deploying in the Sinai Peninsula to rout out al-Qaida cells and end attacks and the sabotaging of the gas pipeline to Israel, officials said. "al-Qaida is present in Sinai mainly in the area of Sakaska close to Rafah," an unnamed general from Egypt's military intelligence told CNN. He claimed the al-Qaida cells had been training in the region for months and the aim of the military operation is to "clean out those criminal pockets around the area of Rafah and Sheik Zuweid." Since the ouster of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak in February, the gas pipeline in northern Sinai that supplies Israel and Jordan has been subjected to a number of attacks causing a disruption in supplies.