Assailants Set Fire to Iraq Oil Pipeline

[maddezmom]

KIRKUK, Iraq - Unknown assailants set off a fire near a vital oil pipeline in northern Iraq (news - web sites), raising concerns that the heat could damage the line, an official said Tuesday.

Firefighters were trying to put off the fire which began late Monday after someone set ablaze a hole in the ground filled with oil that had leaked out during previous attacks, said a Northern Oil Co. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.


He said the fire, in an area about 43 miles southwest of Kirkuk, could cause nearby pipelines to explode. They include the line leading from the northern oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, a principal export route.

more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=736&e=1&u=/ap/20041214/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_oil

[mbperrin]

1. Good thing this war can pay for itself, ain't it?

better not say more

[Journeyman]

2. I see the "insurgents/terrorists" have been upgraded. . .

to "assailants." I wonder if they'll ever be accorded the title "freedom fighters."

[OneBlueSky]

3. ah, yes . . . the weekly pipeline attack . . .

glad to see that there's some stability returning to life in Iraq . . . may not have power, but you can set your clock by watching the pipelines explode . . .

[izzie]

4. I read some place this week that if in Iraq you wait in line 7 hrs.

And hope you do not get blown up and they still have gas when you get to the front of the line. Bet oil is still going to the Turks.

[maddezmom]

5. here is a link:

forcing drivers to spend more than a day queuing for petrol and underlining the government's struggle to maintain even basic services weeks ahead of elections.
In the past two weeks queues often hundreds of cars long have stretched for miles, and disputes between drivers and police have turned violent. In one incident last week at a petrol station in Yarmouk, an affluent area of western Baghdad, a police major was shot dead by a man in the queue.

Government officials have blamed attacks by insurgents for a sharp fuel shortage in a country that has the world's second largest supply of oil.

But petrol station managers say the problems stem more from electricity shortages that prevent pumps from working, higher demand from Iraqis who rely on petrol not just for their cars but to run generators for their homes, and from the dramatic increase in the number of cars on the road since the war last year. A new night-time curfew in Baghdad has also meant petrol stations no longer stay open late.


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