Iraq will not suspend oil exports and provoke a petrol price hike in response to the latest Anglo-American air raids, Deputy Foreign Minister Nizar Hamdoon said in Paris Friday.
"There is no relationship between the two issues, the two questions are very distinct," he told reporters, following meetings with senior French foreign ministry officials.
Iraq's oil is exported under the UN-monitored "oil-for-food" programme, which allows Baghdad to spend profits from oil sales on vital imports for its civilian population despite the economic sanctions in place since the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
A suspension of Iraqi exports could force up oil prices and slow growth in the industrialized world at a time when the US economy is already close to recession. — (AFP)
©Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
