2 Feb 2008

Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast

An undersea cable carrying Internet traffic was cut off the Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai, officials said Friday, the third loss of a line carrying Internet and telephone traffic in three days.

Ships have been dispatched to repair two undersea cables damaged on Wednesday off Egypt.

Stephan Beckert, an analyst with TeleGeography, a research company that consults on global Internet issues, said those cable were likely damaged by ships' anchors.

Officials said Friday it was unclear what caused the damage to FLAG's FALCON cable about 50 kilometers off Dubai.

Schoonover said the two cables damaged Wednesday collectively account for as much as three-quarters of the international communications between Europe and the Middle East, so their loss had a much bigger effect.

CRIMES AND CORRUPTION OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS: Third undersea Internet cable cut in Mideast

Iran is entirely cut off from the Internet