Mosul/Haifa
 
Published on Monday, August 25, 2003 by Ha'aretz (Israel)
US Checking Possibility of Pumping Oil from Northern Iraq to Haifa, via Jordan
by Amiram Cohen
 
The United States has asked Israel to check the possibility of pumping oil from Iraq to the oil refineries in Haifa. The request came in a telegram last week from a senior Pentagon official to a top Foreign Ministry official in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister's Office, which views the pipeline to Haifa as a "bonus" the U.S. could give to Israel in return for its unequivocal support for the American-led campaign in Iraq, had asked the Americans for the official telegram.

The new pipeline would take oil from the Kirkuk area, where some 40 percent of Iraqi oil is produced, and transport it via Mosul, and then across Jordan to Israel. The U.S. telegram included a request for a cost estimate for repairing the Mosul-Haifa pipeline that was in use prior to 1948. During the War of Independence, the Iraqis stopped the flow of oil to Haifa and the pipeline fell into disrepair over the years.

The National Infrastructure Ministry has recently conducted research indicating that construction of a 42-inch diameter pipeline between Kirkuk and Haifa would cost about $400,000 per kilometer. The old Mosul-Haifa pipeline was only 8 inches in diameter.

National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky said yesterday that the port of Haifa is an attractive destination for Iraqi oil and that he plans to discuss this matter with the U.S. secretary of energy during his planned visit to Washington next month. Paritzky added that the plan depends on Jordan's consent and that Jordan would receive a transit fee for allowing the oil to piped through its territory. The minister noted, however, that "due to pan-Arab concerns, it will be hard for the Jordanians to agree to the flow of Iraqi oil via Jordan and Israel."

Sources in Jerusalem confirmed yesterday that the Americans are looking into the possibility of laying a new pipeline via Jordan and Israel. (There is also a pipeline running via Syria that has not been used in some three decades.)

Iraqi oil is now being transported via Turkey to a small Mediterranean port near the Syrian border. The transit fee collected by Turkey is an important source of revenue for the country. This line has been damaged by sabotage twice in recent weeks and is presently out of service.

In response to rumors about the possible Kirkuk-Mosul-Haifa pipeline, Turkey has warned Israel that it would regard this development as a serious blow to Turkish-Israeli relations.

Sources in Jerusalem suggest that the American hints about the alternative pipeline are part of an attempt to apply pressure on Turkey.

Iraq is one of the world's largest oil producers, with the potential of reaching about 2.5 million barrels a day. Oil exports were halted after the Gulf War in 1991 and then were allowed again on a limited basis (1.5 million barrels per day) to finance the import of food and medicines. Iraq is currently exporting several hundred thousand barrels of oil per day.

During his visit to Washington in about two weeks, Paritzky also plans to discuss the possibility of U.S. and international assistance for joint Israeli-Palestinian projects in the areas of energy and infrastructure, natural gas, desalination and electricity.  

© Copyright 2003 Ha'aretz

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

IED


U.S. TURNS TO ISRAEL FOR IED SOLUTIONS


 

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- The United States has turned to Israel for technology and expertise to protect American troops in Iraq from improvised explosive devices.

 

But the Bush administration was said to have limited this cooperation with Israel to avoid an Arab backlash.

 

Israeli sources said the military has supplied technology and components for development of IED solutions to the U.S. Army. They said the U.S. requests have increased in recent weeks in wake of an assessment that the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah supplied IED technology to Sunni insurgents.

 

"More than anybody else, we know Hizbullah tactics and technology," a military source said. "This has become the key to helping the U.S. troops in Iraq.

 

The U.S. help has been requested by Brig. Gen. Joseph Votel, the director of a Defense Department joint task force to fight IEDs. The sources said Votel has been in steady contact with Israeli commanders as well as weapons researchers.


NOTE: The above is not the full item.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mill

Local Marines were killed in flour mill

 

December 8, 2005

The two Illinois Marines who died last week in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, were not on a foot patrol, as previously reported, but were in an abandoned flour mill when they were killed by an explosion, according to a written statement from the Marines.

The two Illinois men were among 10 Marines from Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, killed in the explosion Dec. 1. The troops used the mill as a temporary patrol base.

Lance Cpl. Adam W. Kaiser of Naperville, and Lance Cpl. Andrew G. Patten of Downstate Byron, both 19, died.

The statement said the Marines had gathered in the mill for a promotion ceremony. The military suspects one of the Marines triggered a booby trap.

 

 

 
December 06, 2005

Marines died inside old mill

By Sameer N. Yacoub
Associated Press
 

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Marine Corps updated their report Tuesday on the deaths of 10 Marines on Dec. 1.

The statement said the Marines from Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, were not on a foot patrol, as previously reported, but were inside an abandoned flour mill when they were killed by an explosion. The troops used the mill as a temporary patrol base.

The statement said the Marines had gathered in the mill for a promotion ceremony. The military suspects one of the Marines triggered a booby trap, causing the explosion, the statement said.

“Explosive experts believe four artillery shells were buried in two separate locations,” it read.

Also on Tuesday, the U.S. military said a soldier assigned to Task Force Baghdad was killed when a patrol hit a roadside bomb Sunday. At least 2,129 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war, according to an Associated Press count.

Two suicide bombers struck Baghdad’s police academy Tuesday, killing at least 27 people and wounding 50 more, U.S. officials said, while Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video claiming to have kidnapped a U.S. security consultant.

Iraqi police estimated the death toll could reach 40, with about 70 police officers and students wounded. Five female police officers were among the dead, police Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.

The suicide attackers were wearing explosives-laden vests and a U.S. contractor was among those wounded, a U.S. military statement said. U.S. forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the statement said. The military initially said the bombers were women but later retracted the statement.

“One of the suicide bombers detonated near a group of students outside a classroom,” the Task Force Baghdad said. “Thinking the explosion was an indirect-fire attack, (Iraqi police) and students fled to a bunker for shelter where the second bomber detonated his vest.”

Five female police officers were among the dead, Iraqi police said.

“We were sitting in the yard when we heard an explosion,” said police Maj. Wisam al-Heyali. “Seconds later, we were hit by another explosion as we were running. I saw some of my colleagues falling down and I felt my hand hit, but I kept on running.”

Insurgents have concentrated their attacks against Iraqi security forces. Tuesday’s attack was the deadliest against Iraqi forces since Feb. 28, when a suicide car bomber attacked mostly Shiite police and National Guard recruits in Hillah, killing 125.

The video broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed a blond, Western-looking man sitting with his hands tied behind his back. The video also bore the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq and showed a U.S. passport and an identification card.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed.

If true, the man would become the second American taken hostage in the last two weeks. A U.S. citizen was among four peace activists taken hostage on Nov. 27 by a group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness. Two Canadians and a Briton were also part of that group.

 


 

 

 

 

AP