Iraq will stop its oil exports starting from Monday for 30 days in a gesture of supporting the Palestinian struggle against Israel, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said in a televised speech to the nation on Monday.
"Iraq will completely stop its oil exports from this (April 8) afternoon ... for a period of 30 days, or until the Zionist entity's (Israeli) armed forces have unconditionally withdrawn from the Palestinian territories they have occupied and have shown respect for the will of the Palestinian people and the sovereignty,security and dignity of the Arab nation," Saddam said.
Saddam said the decision was "basically" taken against Israel and the "aggressive" American policy, "not against anyone else."
"It is not meant to harm anyone but those who have decided to harm the Arab nation," he added.
In his speech, Saddam blasted the "killing, destruction and humiliation" against Palestinians by Israeli troops, stressing thatIsrael is not only committing aggressions against Palestine, but also against "the Arab and Islamic nation" as a whole.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi Oil Ministry said in a statement that its oil exports through the Gulf port of Mina al-Bakr and the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan were halted at 14:00 local time (1000 GMT) on Monday.
Directly or indirectly, Iraq has been among the top oil suppliers of the United States, though the two have been sworn enemies since the 1991 Gulf War. Some 40 percent of Iraq's oil exports, which stand at 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day, goes to the U.S. market.
Iraq's ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party has urged fellow Arabs to use oil as a weapon against Israel and the United States. Iraq said last week it was ready to halt its oil exports to protest against Israeli incursions against Palestine.
The latest Israeli military offensive, which have reoccupied a number of Palestinian towns in the West Bank and besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, have triggered strong reactions from the Arab world, especially in Iraq.
Iraq has shown vehement support for the 18-month-old Palestinianintifada (uprising) against Israeli occupation. It has demanded theUnited Nations to allocate 1 billion euros (some 930 million U.S. dollars) from its oil revenues to support Palestine.
It has also organized a 6.5-million-strong "Jerusalem LiberationArmy" which vows to fight along with the Palestinians against Israel.
Last week, Iraq presented the Arab League with a five-point demand which included suspending oil supply to the United States, allowing Arabs to provide weapons as well as volunteer army to support the Palestinians.
(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2002)
