Iraqi oil exports halted as attacks rage

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
by Bill Ickes


BAGHDAD, Oct 24 (AFP) - Iraqi rebels on Monday attacked key oil
infrastructure in the north and gunned down 12 building workers, shattering
a lull in violence and contributing to a complete halt of oil exports.

The fresh unrest came after the Iraqi court trying deposed leader Saddam
Hussein heard testimony from a key witness at his bedside amid fears the
former top official could take his potentially crucial evidence to the
grave.

Oil exports from Iraq -- estimated to have the world's second largest
reserves -- were completely halted by a combination of insurgent attacks in
the north and bad weather in the south.

Rebels attacked oil pipelines in Iraq's north for the second time in four
days, sparking fires and further setting back the resumption of exports into
Turkey that had been halted by the previous attack on Thursday.

"Three mortars fell just after 10:00 am (0700 GMT) on a network of oil and
gas pipelines that had already been hit on Thursday by mortar fire," said an
official responsible for oil security.

Furthermore, exports from the south -- which counts for the lion's share of
Iraq's output -- have been halted since Friday owing to bad weather and high
waves that prevent tankers from hooking up", a spokesman said.

Violence has been relatively low since the October 15 referendum on the
constitution but on Sunday, 12 workers on a building site were killed and
their foreman kidnapped, police said Monday.

The workers, who belonged to three families from the region, were working on
the construction of a new government building in Jorf al-Sakhr about 50
kilometres (30 miles) south of Baghdad.

Security sources said another 13 Iraqis, including two small children, were
killed on Sunday in a series of attacks across the country that also wounded
more than 30 people, among them five US soldiers.

On Saturday, the US military announced the death of four of its troops in
Iraq, moving the overall toll since the US-led invasion of March 2003 closer
to the psychologically significant total of 2,000.

The latest deaths brought to 1,991 the number of US military personnel
killed in Iraq, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.

Meanwhile, Iraqi officials continued to tally votes from the referendum on a
new post-Saddam Hussein constitution, with full results still not known nine
days after the vote.

The electoral commission said it would release results from a 14th province
on the charter, which has exacerbated the country's deep ethnic divisions.

It was not known if the results were from Nineveh, a Sunni-dominated
province in northwestern Iraq that could decide whether the charter has been
approved.

Although the constitution appears headed for victory with overwhelming
support from Shiites and Kurds, it could be scuttled by Sunni Arabs if they
muster a two-thirds majority against in at least three of Iraq's 18
provinces.

In the latest development in the trial of Saddam Hussein, a key witness
dying of cancer gave testimony to the Iraqi court hearing murder and torture
charges against Saddam over the 1982 massacre of 143 Shiite villagers after
an attempt on his life.

Waddah Khalil, who occupied a key post at the time of the murders, testified
before officials of the Iraqi Special Tribunal who were concerned the former
top intelligence officer could soon die.

The trial against Saddam and seven former regime officials opened on October
19 and was adjourned until November 28, but a special session was held for
Khalil because of his terminal disease.

However his lawyer refused to attend the hearing despite being offered a
security escort. It was unclear if fears of attacks following the murder
last week of one defence lawyer linked to the trial had prompted his
refusal.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa left Iraq after a landmark visit that saw him
meet representatives of Iraq's three main communities to try to win support
for a planned national reconciliation conference.
 
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