Iraq Says Oil Exports Stoppage Aims at Harming US Economy

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, April 10, 2002

Iraq Says Oil Exports Stoppage Aims at Harming US Economy

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Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Mohammad Rashid said on Tuesday that Iraq's decision to halt oil exports wasaimed at harming the economy of the United States, expressing confidence that other oil producers would not increase oil output to fill the gap.

In a statement to the official Iraqi News Agency (INA), Rashid said the decision to stop pumping oil was aimed at harming the U.S.economy and pressing Israel to withdraw its armed forces from the occupied Palestinian lands.

Rashid noted that oil prices have increased as a result of Iraq's halt of oil exports, confirming Iraq's slogan of using oil as a weapon against the United States and Israel.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein announced on Monday that Iraq started from Monday afternoon to completely stop its oil exports for a period of 30 days, or until Israeli armed forces have "unconditionally" withdrawn from the Palestinian territories they have occupied and "have shown respect for the will of the Palestinian people and the sovereignty, security and dignity of theArab nation."

The stoppage has helped propel oil prices higher, adding 1.04 U.S. dollars to benchmark Brent to 27.03 dollars a barrel on Monday, nearly a six-month high.

Iraq is now the sixth largest oil supplier of the United States,though the two have been sworn enemies since the 1991 Gulf War. Over 50 percent of Iraq's oil exports, which stand at some 2 million barrels per day, flows into the U.S. market.

Rashid stressed that "the crimes committed by the Zionist entity(Israel) against the Palestinians" will prevent the Organization ofPetroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from increasing its output to fill the gap left by Iraq.

Any increase of oil output will be "a stab in the back of the brave Palestinian intifada (uprising)," Rashid said.

Iraq's suspension of oil exports has so far got short shrift from other Arab and Muslim oil producers as OPEC heavyweights SaudiArabia and Kuwait have rejected Iraq's call and ruled out the use of oil as a weapon against the U.S.-led West.

OPEC Secretary-General Ali Rodriguez has said that he would consult with cartel ministers to see whether there was the need to lift oil output.

Earlier Tuesday, the Iraqi oil minister sent a letter to the OPEC chief and called on all oil exporting countries to support Iraq's decision which was not meant to harm anybody but "to put an end to the U.S.-Zionist aggressions against the Palestinian people and to oblige the Zionist forces to withdraw from the Palestinian lands."

The latest Israeli incursions, which have taken a number of Palestinian towns, including a siege of Arafat's headquarters, havetriggered strong reactions from the Arab world, especially in Iraq.

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