Iraq: No More Oil

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on Monday called on Arab oil exporters to stop sales to the United States and Israel as well as cut their exports in half.

Saddam spoke in a national television address less than a month after he announced he was cutting off Iraq's oil exports for 30 days or until Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories, an announcement that triggered an immediate increase in world oil prices.

Other Arab nations refused to follow his lead earlier, and they were unlikely to heed his call Monday.

He said Arabs should "immediately decrease the production of their oil for export by 50 percent and ... deprive the U.S. and Zionist entity of the other exported half."

He said any countries that resold Arab oil to the United States or Israel should be cut off as well.

Saddam scoffed at Arabs who had criticized his earlier call and said "oil is not a tank or a plane to be used as a weapon." Saudi Arabia, without whom an Arab oil boycott would be ineffective, has made such comments. Other Gulf oil producers states also have said a boycott would be impractical.

Many Gulf states depend on oil revenues for more than two-thirds of government income and cannot afford to stop sales.

"If oil is not a weapon while we have it, what else can we use to face the ambitious powers?" Saddam said in his speech Monday. "We should use oil as a companion weapon and not as an alternative to other weapons."

He also suggested allocating more oil to countries that support "Arab rights" and less to those that "adopt negative stands against us."

The last time oil-producing Arab nations used oil as a political weapon was in 1973, when reduced exports caused a global energy crisis. Since then, the world's wealthiest nations have created the International Energy Agency to provide a cushion against any similar disruption.

In November 2000, Saudi Arabia led the adoption of a pledge by OPEC and other major exporters that oil would not be used as a political weapon.

Saddam on Monday also called on Arab workers at ports, airports and rail depots to refuse to handle tankers, vessels and planes carrying oil and goods to "hostile countries."

Oil prices rose briefly when Saddam announced April 8 that he was cutting his oil exports in solidarity with the Palestinians, but the market calmed soon after as it became clear the move was unilateral.