Thursday September 21, 2000 2:30 am BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq on Wednesday renewed its accusation that Kuwait has been stealing its oil, a charge that in the past week has heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf region with its echoes of the prelude to the 1990-1991 war. The ruling Baath party newspaper, Al-Thawra, said in a front-page editorial that Kuwaiti officials have ``implicitly'' acknowledged they are stealing Iraqi oil by drilling wells that may stretch horizontally to reach Iraqi reservoirs close to the border, ``depleting (Iraqi) crude via this vicious method.'' ``This (theft) cannot but be part of a series of provocations Kuwaiti rulers have been practicing against Iraq,'' the paper said in the editorial signed by editor-in-chief Sami Mehdi. Kuwait has rejected the charges as an attempt by Iraq to destablilize in the region. Iraq's Oil Ministry officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed Wednesday that about 300,000 barrels of oil per day are illegally pumped by Kuwait from Iraqi reservoirs through the practice of horizontal drilling. At current prices, the volume should be worth more than $3 billion a year. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheik Saud Nasser al-Sabah said in a statement that Kuwait would welcome independent experts to inspect its oil operations in the border area with Iraq ``so that the falsity of the allegations by the Iraqi regime can be revealed.'' In the same statement, Information Minister Saad Bin Tafla al-Ajmi said Kuwait did not have the equipment needed for horizontal drilling. Kuwait's ambassador to the United Nations, Mohammad Abulhasan, denied any oil theft in letters sent to Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council and circulated Wednesday. Abulhasan, responding to accuations Iraq made Sept. 14, accused Baghdad of ``trying to provoke crises and create an atmosphere of tension and instability in the region'' and urged to world body to enforce resolutions promising to ``to prevent Iraq from resorting to threats and intimidation of its neighbors.'' Theft of Iraqi oil was one of the reasons Iraq gave for invading Kuwait in 1990; a U.S.-led coalition force drove Iraq out seven months later in the Persian Gulf War. Iraq resurrected the 10-year-old complaint last week, along with a warning that it will take proper measures to stop its neighbor's actions. In addition to the oil theft charges, Mehdi accused Kuwait of allowing the United States to conduct military exercises close to Iraqi borders and providing refuge and financial help to Baghdad opponents. Mehdi said Iraq cannot remain silent when faced with what he described as Kuwait's ``flagrant aggressive actions.'' Meanwhile, the United Nations, which monitors Iraqi oil sales and controls the income under the oil-for-food plan, said Iraq has collected $5.1 billion since June 9, the start of the current oil phase, which ends Dec. 5. The U.N.-monitored program, renewed at six months intervals, permits Iraq unlimited oil sales, enabling it to earn billions of dollars to rebuild an economy devastated by wars and U.N. trade sanctions imposed for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
