HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- Saddam chokes off oil to put pressure on
west
Arab world Iran and Libya could join Iraqi boycott Ewen MacAskill and Terry
Macalister Saddam Hussein put the energy
markets in a spin yesterday by cutting off Iraqi oil exports to the west in a
bid to force Israel to abandon its West Bank offensive.
Two other oil producing countries, Iran and Libya, said they were considering
whether to follow suit but the biggest Middle East exporters, Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait, are unlikely to join the boycott in spite of the widespread sentiment in
the region for some kind of retaliation against Israel. The price of the key Brent blend soared by more than $1 a barrel on world
markets as traders worried about finding alternative supplies to feed growing
demand. Iraq said the oil supplies will be cut off for 30 days unless Israel pulls
out before then. Although Saddam insisted he wanted to halt Israel's offensive
on the West Bank, his moves were also interpreted as diplo matic manoeuvring in
the face of US and British efforts to topple him. The Iraqi leader said: "The
oppressive Zionist and American enemy has belittled the capabilities of the
[Arab] nation." Iraq said it had closed its pipelines to Turkey and the Gulf at 10am. It
normally exports 2 million barrels a day, about 4% of world trade. The loss of Iraqi oil should have relatively little impact on world supplies
because there are many other producing countries which could take up the slack.
But Saddam's move brought further nervousness to energy markets already spooked
about the continuing volatility in the Middle East. Iran called on Friday for oil sanctions against countries that support
Israel, while Libya said yesterday that it supported such a ban. It is not the first time Iraq has choked off oil for political reasons.
Baghdad cut supplies last year in protest at UN sanctions. In a speech on Iraqi television yesterday, Saddam said that if Israel has not
withdrawn after 30 days, Iraq would consider what further action to take. By
allying himself to the Palestinian cause, Saddam makes it harder for Arab
countries to join any alliance against him. In their meeting in Texas at the
weekend, George Bush and Tony Blair confirmed that military action was among the
options under consideration against Iraq. Mr Bush said explicitly that "regime
change" was a US objective, but Mr Blair was less clear-cut. Iraqi diplomats, trying to pre-empt US action, have been working hard in the
past month to improve relations with other Arab countries. The UN
secretary-general, Kofi Annan, is to meet an Iraqi delegation in a
fortnight. Saddam could split the international community by agreeing to allow UN
weapons inspectors back into Iraq to check for biological and chemical weapons
and the development of a nuclear capability. The oil price increase sent waves of concern through the business community,
which has been slowly recovering its confidence since September 11. "This could be the achilles heel of the global recovery. The global economy
could deal with a short-term spike in the oil price, but the last thing it needs
right now is a prolonged period of high prices," said David Brown, the chief
European economist at Bear Stearns.
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