HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------BAGHDAD, April 8 (Reuters) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Monday announced an immediate suspension of Iraq's oil exports for a month in protest at Israel's incursion into Palestinian areas of the West Bank.
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http://www.forbes.com/work/managementtrends/newswire/2002/04/08/rtr561734.html
In a speech broadcast over Iraqi media, the Iraqi leader,President Saddam Hussein said: "The Iraqi leadership declared the complete stoppage of oil exports starting from this afternoon April 8 for a period of 30 days when we will further decide policy, or until the Zionist entity's armed forces have unconditionally withdrawn from the Palestinian territories."
The decision came as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed to press ahead with a 10-day-old military offensive, in direct defiance of demands from Washington for a withdrawal.
Saddam said: "The decision is basically taken against the Zionist entity, and the American aggressive policy and not against anyone else.
It is not meant to harm anyone but those who have decided to harm the Palestinian people."
IRAN, LIBYA
There was no immediate response to the Iraqi decision from two other Muslim oil producing nations, Iran and Libya, who have said they too would embargo oil supplies but only if the ban found support from all Arab producers.
Iraqi officials said their suspension would be lifted once the Iraqi leadership was satisfied that Israel had withdrawn from the West Bank.
Iraq exports oil under a humanitarian exchange with the United Nations, permitted as an exception to 1990 Gulf War sanctions.
Despite its hardline on Iraq, the U.S. is easily the world's biggest consumer of Iraqi crude, taking more than half of Baghdad's oil and depending on Iraqi supplies for about nine percent of its huge imports.
Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Muhammed Rasheed confirmed the suspension of exports had been implemented at 1000 GMT from both its export points on the Gulf and through Turkey. Turkish pipeline company Botas said it had yet to be notified.
About a third of Iraq's crude exports are piped north through Turkey to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan with the rest shippped from Iraq's Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr.
The stoppage helped propel oil prices higher, adding $1.04 to benchmark Brent to $27.03 a barrel, near a six-month high.
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