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The
fire at a key Iraqi oil pipeline was caused by sabotage and could
affect production at Baghdad's main oil refinery
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BAGHDAD,
June 22 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Ending a costly bad week
for the U.S. occupation forces in war-ravaged Iraq, an American soldier
was killed in a grenade attack and an oil pipeline sabotaged on Sunday,
June 22.
The
soldier was gunned down and another wounded in a grenade attack on a
military convoy in Khan Azaz, 20 kilometers south of Baghdad, the U.S.
military said in a statement carried by Agence France-Presse (AFP) .
"The
two soldiers were medically evacuated by ground ambulance," it
said, adding that "one soldier was pronounced dead after arriving
at the hospital."
The
latest death brings to 53 the number of U.S. troops killed since Bush
declared the invasion on Iraq effectively over on May 1, according to an
count from U.S. military statements.
The
attacks were blamed on self-styled resistance
groups,
as Iraqis are seethed with anger
at the slow pace of improvement and inaction to restore order in the
war-ravaged country since the U.S. forces rolled in and Saddam Hussein
ousted.
Sabotaged
Also
Sunday, a second explosion in 10 days ripped through an oil pipeline
northwest of Baghdad.
The
explosion, near the town of Hit, will affect power production at
Baghdad's main al-Doura oil refinery.
It
will also affect major electrical plant, said the head of the refinery
supplying the power station.
"It
will affect electricity generation directly. People are already living
in hell and it's only going to get worse," said Dathar al-Qassab,
hinting at sabotage.
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Some
Oil Revenue ‘Could’ Be Distributed To The Iraqis: Bremer
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"It
looks as though it's the same people. There are a lot of
similarities," he said, referring to the previous blast.
"Some
people do not want us to export oil and that will affect the recovery of
Iraq". The pipeline links Iraq's southern oil fields to Baghdad's
main Dura oil refinery.
The
explosion came as anti-American sentiments are growing among Iraqis
resentful at the occupation and suspicious of the reasons behind the
U.S.-British invasion of their country, whose oil reserves are the
world's second largest.
The
oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey, the main export route from the
country's northern fields, was damaged
earlier this month in what officials said was an effort to sabotage the
country's return to the oil market.
This
came as the U.S. civil administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer told the World
Economic Forum meeting in Jordan that the country's oil exports,
expected to go back on stream in July, would generate 5.5 billion
dollars this year.
Bremer,
who represented the Arab Islamic country in the meeting amid Arab and
international criticisms, cautioned that the level of oil sales would
also depend on the security situation.
"We
have had repeated acts of political sabotage against the pipelines and
the refineries in the last month ... We're going to have to deal with
that, you could have some problems meeting production levels," he
said.
Some
Oil Revenue ‘Could’ Be Distributed To The Iraqis: Bremer
Bremer
said that some profits of Iraq's forthcoming oil sales could be
distributed directly to the population.
"Some
profits from oil sales could be distributed to Iraq's citizens as
'dividends', along the lines of the system used by the (U.S.) State of
Alaska," Bremer said.
"Alternatively,
oil revenues could be deposited in a national 'trust fund' used to
finance public pensions and other elements of a social safety net needed
to ease the transition from a state-dominated economy to a private
sector economy."
Bremer's
representation of Iraq at the three-day economic gathering came amid
louder voices in the country calling for the U.S. forces to leave and a
national representative government be set at the helm.
Two
top U.S. senators on Sunday warned that U.S. forces will likely have to
remain in Iraq for an "extended period of time" allegedly to
rebuild the country, create a democracy and ensure stability.
"It's
important we all understand that, that the president say that, that we
say that, that it's a five-year plan of stability for a country that is
bankrupt, that is dangerous," said Senator Richard Lugar, the
Republican from Indiana, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee.
