Coalition forces crack down on oil smuggling in Iraq

BAGHDAD: US-led coalition forces have seized 47 oil vessels and arrested 80 people during a major anti-smuggling sting in southern Iraq, US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel George Krivo said Friday.

“Over the past few days coalition operations have yielded 24 oil barges, 15 empty oil barges, eight oil boats, 10 land-based fuel pumps and over 80 arrests,” he said.

“We expect the anti-smuggling operation to intensify in the next 24 to 48 hours,” he said.

He said the barges were seized in an operation in southeast Iraq that involved US and British troops, as well as Iraqi personnel, and that included 2,000 US marines and sailors.

An oil pipeline from Kirkuk in northern Iraq to Turkey was reopened Saturday after a series of sabotages only to be shut down two hours later after leaks were discovered, Anatolia news agency reported. “They (the Iraqi side) started pumping at around 10:30 am (O730 GMT),” a Turkish energy ministry source, who requested anonymity, told AFP.

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http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_19-10-2003_pg7_38

Traitorous fuck.