Saddam Sends Message to UAE President As Deciding to Halt OilExportThe United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan received a message from Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Saturday, December 2, two days after Baghdad decided to halt oil export.The message was conveyed by Iraqi Trade Minister Mohammad Mehdi Salah, who arrived here Friday evening for talks with President Zayed, the official WAM news agency reported. Saddam voiced greetings to Zayed who had just returned from the US after a surgery. Though the news agency did not disclose more details, Zayed's remarks on Saturday showed UAE's concern about the sufferings of Iraqi people reeling under the 10-year-old U.N. sanctions. Zayed said Saturday that "we re-iterate the unity of Iraqi land and people and we do feel very much concern about the continuation of human suffering there." He added that "we do call all Arab countries and international community to quickly end this crisis. We are still working on restoring Arab solidarity through frankness and forgiveness." Iraq Thursday decided to halt oil export to protest against UN delays in approving imports and refusal to an Iraqi demand for oil buyers to pay a 55-cent surcharge a barrel outside the UN oil- for-food program. Sanction-hit Iraq has allowed to export oil since late 1996 under the oil-for-food program, but the revenues were deposited in a UN escrow account for importing humanitarian goods for Iraqi people. Iraq's 2.4 million barrels a day accounts for five percent of world oil exports and the news to suspend oil export has brought a price rise on the world oil market, with the crude reaching US$32.5 a barrel on Friday morning. |
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