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Iraq

Closed refinery leads to crisis in Iraq

BAGHDAD - Sitting in his car outside Baghdad's biggest gas station, Ahmed Khalaf mused out loud about whether he would spend the entire day waiting to fill up the minivan he uses to drive passengers around.

"After the rise in gas prices, now we have a gas shortage," the 33-year-old complained. "I left my work early, and I don't think I will have the opportunity to return to work today because of this long line. Dark will come soon and I cannot work at night."

About 1,000 vehicles were stopped or idling in a long line outside the Jindi al-Majhoul, or Unknown Soldier, gas station in central Baghdad. There were similar lines at other gas stations around the capital as word spread that Iraq's largest oil refinery, in Beiji, had shut down two weeks ago because of threats of insurgent attacks.

Nearly three years after the U.S.-led invasion, a fuel crisis for the second time in December threatened to cripple a country with the world's third-largest proven oil reserves.

As another year in Iraq wound down, the U.S. military announced that two more soldiers were killed, putting the American military death toll at 841 so far this year - just five short of 2004's lost lives despite political progress and dogged efforts to quash the insurgency.

That insurgency has caused Ali Moussa, a 51-year-old tanker truck driver, to fear for his life.

"We demand that the government provide security and protection," he said. "The Beiji storage tanks are full and there isn't any shortage of gas there. The problem is that drivers are too afraid to go there unless they are protected."

The fuel crisis has already cost one job, that of Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum, who was given a 30-day vacation Wednesday and replaced with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi. The oil minister had opposed a recent decision to raise prices for fuel and cooking oil as much as ninefold.

Baghdad in particular has been suffering from a shortage of refined fuel, much of which is already imported because of the country's diminished refining capacity. A number of demonstrations have been held around Iraq because of a Dec. 19 increase in gasoline prices.

At the time, the price of imported and super gasoline was raised from about 13 cents a gallon to about 65 cents a gallon.

Iraq's proven oil reserves, estimated at about 110-billion barrels, are the world's third largest after Saudi Arabia's and Canada's. Analysts have predicted that Iraq's oil production will average about 1.8-million barrels a day this year, about 10 percent less than the 2004 level of about 2-million barrels - and just over half the 1990 level. One reason is frequent insurgent attacks on pipelines and refineries.

Violence across Iraq went on unabated Friday, with at least 17 people killed in shootings, mortar attacks and a suicide car bombing in Baghdad. In the most serious incident, police said nine people were killed in a drive-by shooting in the capital - apparently because they were drinking alcohol in public.

Senior Sudanese diplomat Mohamed Ahmed Khalil said his country closed its embassy in Baghdad in an effort to win the release of six kidnapped employees, including one diplomat. He said the embassy's 12 employees would leave on Monday.

Al-Qaida in Iraq had threatened Thursday to kill five Sudanese today unless the country removed its diplomatic mission.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported Dec. 24 that six of its embassy employees were kidnapped. It was not clear if the al-Qaida statement referred to that group.

In the two new deaths of U.S. military personnel, the military said a bomb killed one soldier in Baghdad on Friday and the second soldier was shot in Fallujah.

South Korea's Parliament approved a government plan Friday to bring home one-third of the country's troops in Iraq but extended the overall deployment for another year.

The plan calls for the withdrawal of about 1,000 of the 3,200 South Korean military personnel who are helping rebuild a Kurdish area of northern Iraq.

South Korea has more troops in Iraq than any coalition partner except Britain. The mission had been due to expire at the end of this year.

The reduction will begin in the first half of next year, said Ahn Young Keun, a ruling Uri Party lawmaker.

[Last modified December 31, 2005, 00:48:13]