Free Republic

US pushes for revival of Iraq-Israel oil pipeline The US Department of Defense sent a telegram to the Israel Ministry of Foreign affairs last week, proposing the re-opening of the oil pipeline between Iraq and Israeli oil refineries in Haifa. The new oil channel would restore the pipeline that ran for hundreds of kilometers between Kirkuk in Iraq and the Haifa Port before the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. After the end of the British mandate, Iraq stopped the flow of oil to Israel and the pipeline, only eight inches in diameter, was abandoned. In the telegram,...

The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem. The Prime Minister's Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram. The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced,...

The United States has launched a new effort to protect Iraq's oil sector from sabotage. U.S. officials said the Coalition Provisional Authority plans to deploy 11,500 guards to protect the Iraqi oil pipeline to Turkey. The 1,000-kilometer Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline has been repeatedly sabotaged by forces loyal to deposed President Saddam Hussein. So far, about 5,000 Iraq security guards have been deployed around the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, Middle East Newsline reported. Officials said the CPA will hire another 6,500 Iraqi guards. Over the weekend, the pipeline came under two attacks that suspended operations. Officials said repairs of the pipeline could take weeks.

THE coalition forces signed a contract for the hiring of 6,500 additional security guards to protect oil-related facilities in Iraq, a spokesman said today. The Coalition Provisional Authority signed a contract with Erinys International security firm to hire and train the guards to protect 100 oil-related installations, the spokesman said, adding the contract had been under negotiation for a few months. The announcement was made after the pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields around Kirkuk to the Turkish terminal of Ceyhan was attacked on Friday when unknown assailants blew up a section near Baiji. The attack has landed a hard blow...

Mon August 18, 2003 06:28 PM ET By Andrew Marshall BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Attacks by saboteurs on Iraq's decrepit infrastructure and oil industry have cost the economy billions of dollars, the country's U.S. governor said on Monday, as firefighters battled to control a pipeline blaze. U.S. Army engineers dropped water from helicopters to try to douse the flames on the main oil export pipeline to Turkey, a crucial economic lifeline which reopened last Wednesday but was shut down two days later after saboteurs set it ablaze. U.S. administrator Paul Bremer told CNN in an interview in Baghdad that hardcore supporters...

Mon August 18, 2003 09:59 AM ET By Andrew Marshall BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. Army engineers battled a blaze on Monday on Iraq's main oil export pipeline -- a crucial lifeline for the floundering economy -- after two attacks by saboteurs last week set it on fire. In Baghdad, the U.S. military said it was investigating the death of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana, shot dead by an American soldier on Sunday as he filmed outside a prison. He was the 18th journalist killed since the invasion of Iraq on March 20. The U.S. military acknowledged that one of its soldiers...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 17 — In a turbulent 12-hour stretch, a pipeline supplying much of Baghdad's water was blown up this weekend, a huge new fire was set off along an oil pipeline, and a mortar attack on a prison left 6 Iraqis dead and 59 wounded. The attacks raised new concerns that the insurgents who have been singling out American soldiers may be widening their strikes to include civilian targets and economic sabotage. The explosion at the water pipeline was the work of saboteurs, investigators said, and the fire along the pipeline appeared suspicious as well. It occurred near...

Saboteurs blew up a water main in northern Baghdad on Sunday, forcing engineers to cut off water to the entire capital and raising new concerns that insurgents are hitting Iraq (news - web sites)'s infrastructure to slow its recovery. AP Photo Latest headlines: · U.S. Troops Shoot Dead Reuters Cameraman in IraqReuters - 51 minutes ago · Iraq's rebuilding "catalogue" to be unveiled for donors in SeptemberAFP - 59 minutes ago · US investigating shooting of Reuters cameraman outside Baghdad jailAFP - 1 hour, 9 minutes ago Special Coverage   The water main bombing came as two oil fires...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Taps ran dry in the capital and oil exports to Turkey ground to a halt because of a water main explosion and two oil pipeline blazes that raised new concerns saboteurs are hitting infrastructure to slow Iraq's recovery. In new violence, a mortar attack on a Baghdad prison being used by the Americans killed six Iraqis. A new group of resistance fighters has said they would battle the U.S.-led occupation whether or not it brings progress in rebuilding the country. The explosion in northern Baghdad blew a hole in a 5-foot-diameter water main early Sunday, flooding...

Sun August 17, 2003 09:15 AM ET By Michael Georgy SHIRQAAT, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's oil export pipeline to Turkey -- a crucial lifeline for the economy -- was still ablaze on Sunday, sending clouds of black smoke into the sky, and the U.S. Army said it could take two weeks to repair. "The different reports we have seen have been anywhere from 10 days to two weeks, but they still have a lot to find out about what needs to be done," an Army spokesman told a news conference when asked how long it would take to fix the...

Wave of Sabotage Hits Iraq, Baghdad Jail Attacked Sun August 17, 2003 10:04 AM ET By Andrew Marshall BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A fresh wave of sabotage and violence took its toll on Iraq on Sunday as a second blaze hit a crucial oil export pipeline, a water pipeline was blown up and six Iraqis were killed in a mortar attack on a Baghdad prison. A Danish soldier was also killed as he tried to stop looting on Saturday night. Iraq's crucial oil export pipeline to Turkey, which saboteurs attacked two days ago, was ablaze again on Sunday following another blast....

Sun August 17, 2003 10:04 AM ET By Andrew Marshall BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A fresh wave of sabotage and violence took its toll on Iraq on Sunday as a second blaze hit a crucial oil export pipeline, a water pipeline was blown up and six Iraqis were killed in a mortar attack on a Baghdad prison. A Danish soldier was also killed as he tried to stop looting on Saturday night. Iraq's crucial oil export pipeline to Turkey, which saboteurs attacked two days ago, was ablaze again on Sunday following another blast. A North Oil Company official at the scene...

Iraq: Danish Soldier Killed, Two U.S. Soldiers Wounded Copenhagen, 17 August 2003 (RFE/RL) -- A Danish soldier has been killed in a clash with Iraqi gunmen in Al-Basrah, Danish Army command in Copenhagen confirmed today. The soldier, the first Danish casualty in Iraq, was killed when his patrol was shot at. Two Iraqis died in the exchange of fire. Denmark has 420 soldiers stationed in southern Iraq. In Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman says two U.S. soldiers were shot and wounded as they left a Baghdad restaurant. The spokesman said today the attack occurred yesterday. He said the injuries were...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- A raging oil fire and pipeline trouble stopped all oil flow Saturday from Iraq to Turkey, just three days after the pipeline between the two countries was reopened, the military said. A police officer once imprisoned for his opposition to Saddam Hussein was appointed the top Iraqi law enforcer, while attacks continued against U.S. forces. U.S. soldiers were helping Iraqi oil workers contain a fire burning since Friday outside the northern town of Baiji on a section of the 600-mile pipeline from the northern city of Kirkuk to the Turkish city of Ceyhan."There is no oil...

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) -- Saboteurs blew up a giant oil pipeline in northern Iraq, halting oil exports to Turkey only days after they resumed and cutting off vital income for an economy in shambles. The new Iraqi police commander vowed on Saturday to pursue the "conspirators" behind the attack.Iraqi oil exports to Turkey had begun only on Wednesday, and the explosion early Friday near Baiji, 125 miles northeast of Baghdad, cut them off completely, acting Iraqi oil minister Thamer al-Ghadaban said in Baghdad.Police Brig. Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim, once imprisoned for speaking out against Saddam Hussein, was appointed Saturday to be...

AP Smoke billows out from oil pipeline Iraq has closed its main oil export pipeline to Turkey, due to a fire and technical problems, just days after the pipeline reopened for the first time since the war against Saddam Hussein's regime. The pipeline caught fire for unknown reasons early Friday north of the Iraqi town of Baiji. It burned for 24 hours before it was extinguished Saturday. In addition to the fire, U.S. military officials say other portions of the conduit had to be shut down due to repair technical problems and sabotage. The pipeline travels 950 kilometers from...

Most Americans don't know it, but the price of natural gas has increased as much as 700% in the last three years. That's what happens in the marketplace when an essential commodity becomes scarce. It's not that there aren't huge amounts of natural gas. The problem is that access to it has been effectively blocked. "We're not running out of natural gas, and we're not running out of places to look for natural gas," says Keith Rattie, president of Questar, an energy developer. "However, we are running out of places we are allowed to look for gas." Why do you...

<p>Flames shot 200 feet into the air from a burst oil pipeline north of Baghdad on Tuesday, and U.S. forces fired warning shots to keep people from approaching the scene.</p> <p>Two M-1 Abrams tanks and three soldiers crouched in firing positions ordered an Associated Press reporter and photographer to stay back from the blaze near Taji, a region of date groves, military compounds and chemical plants. Before the war, U.N. weapons inspectors were in the area almost daily.</p>

Trinidad targets US market with new gas pipeline By Canute James in Kingston Published: July 31 2003 13:34 | Last Updated: July 31 2003 13:34 Trinidad and Tobago, the leading supplier to the US of liquefied natural gas, hopes to build an undersea gas pipeline to Florida. Patrick Manning, the country's prime minister, said. A feasibility study has already begun on the 3,000km pipeline, which is designed to meet growing natural gas demand in the US's south-east. The region relies heavily on natural gas for electricity generation, Mr Manning noted. Local officials estimate the project's cost in the hundreds of...

Lottery-winning immigrant runs afoul of the rules By TIM MCGLONE, The Virginian-Pilot © August 2, 2003 NORFOLK -- Francisco Padilla Gonzalez came to the United States from Mexico in search of a fortune that most of his countrymen end up only dreaming about. Padilla, though, hit it big. After winning $1.4 million in the California lottery, he moved to Hampton Roads and opened three Mexican restaurants. His dream life fell apart this month when federal agents raided one of his restaurants in Franklin and arrested him and seven others on charges of running a pipeline of illegal immigrants from Mexico....