- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Saboteurs
have set an oil pipeline in northern Iraq on fire as a new U.S.-led force
was deployed to protect the area's infrastructure, witnesses said Monday.
-
- Residents of Burjwari, a village near the Baiji refinery,
said a bomb was placed overnight along a northern pipeline section carrying
oil. Reuters television footage showed the pipeline on fire.
-
- "We were preparing to break the (Ramadan) fast when
we heard an explosion. This was the work of the resistance. We think the
pipeline carried liquefied petroleum gas, but we are not sure," Qassem
Mohammad said.
-
- Iraq's northern oil infrastructure includes the export
pipeline, which runs from its Kirkuk oilfields to Turkey's Mediterranean
coast through the Baiji refinery.
-
- The pipeline has been closed since the Iraq war and hit
by repeated sabotage. The U.S. Army has said security would be adequately
strengthened by November 15 to restart the line.
-
- But a senior Iraqi oil official said the pipeline was
not secure enough to restart despite new U.S.-led forces deployed to guard
it.
-
- "The oil ministry is working to secure the pipeline
to resume production. It is not secure at the moment. Responsibility for
the decision lies fully with the oil ministry," the official told
Reuters.
-
- The force, dubbed Task Force Shield, is made up of U.S.
military personnel, a South African security contractor and local tribes.
-
- Exports revenues from oil sales are vital for U.S. hopes
of paying for Iraq's reconstruction. Iraq has been exporting around 1.4
million barrels per day (bpd) over the first 10 days of this month from
its southern Basra oil terminal.
-
- Baghdad hopes to raise December exports to 1.5 million
bpd. Before the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, Iraq was exporting 2.2
million bpd and the northern pipeline was capable of carrying around 800,000
bpd.
-
- Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited
without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable
for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance
thereon.
- Copyright © 2003 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
|
