[Onthebarricades] IRAQ: Resistance attacks on oil supply, police, Sept-Oct 07

[Andy]

*  Iraq oil pipeline bombed
*  Tribes sabotage oil pipelines
*  More pipeline incidents
*  Armed group torches oil trucks
*  Suicide bomber hits Basra police
*  Other attacks on police

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2349748.htm

Internal Iraq oil pipeline cut by bomb - police
23 Sep 2007 18:13:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
BAGHDAD, Sept 23 (Reuters) - An internal pipeline carrying crude oil to a 
Baghdad refinery was ruptured in a bomb attack by insurgents, police said on 
Sunday, the second attack on a pipeline in Iraq in five days.
Police said the pipeline connecting Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of 
Baghdad, to the Doura refinery in the capital was hit by a suspected 
improvised explosive device. Rescue teams had so far been unable to reach 
the area.
Baiji residents reported seeing flames spewing from the ruptured line. It 
was not clear if work at the refinery had stopped.
On Tuesday, Iraq's northern oil export pipeline to Turkey was damaged by a 
bomb attack that caused oil to spill into the Tigris River.
The same attack also blew up another pipeline that transports crude to the 
Baiji refinery. (Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Baghdad newsroom; editing by 
Braden Reddall))

http://www.iwpr.net/EN-icr-f-338515

Tribes Sabotage Kirkuk Pipelines
Local tribes who reap massive profits from stolen oil are likely to obstruct 
the authorities' attempts to protect pipelines.
By IWPR reporters in Kirkuk (ICR No. 232, 07-Sep-07)
Masked men infiltrate the village of al-Milih, 75 kilometres west of Kirkuk, 
and approach an oil pipeline that passes nearby. Under cover of darkness, 
they steal oil from an opening they drilled into the pipeline weeks earlier.

Over a period of weeks, this scene is repeated nightly.

Despite the presence of special oil ministry units, pipelines around Kirkuk 
are destroyed and hundreds of tonnes of oil stolen every day by tribe 
members from surrounding villages, such as al-Milih, Wadi Zghetun, 
al-Muradiyya, al-Saduniyya, al-Kanaina and al-Safra.

The "oil protection units" were deployed to guard the pipelines after the 
government cancelled previous failed agreements with tribal forces to 
protect them. But in spite of this, oil is stolen from pipelines stretching 
from the al-Riyadh sub-district, 55 km west of Kirkuk, to the al-Fatha area 
90 km to the west.

Tribal sheikhs who profit from the stolen oil are likely to obstruct new 
measures planned by local authorities, including a special protection force, 
to stop the sabotage of the pipelines. Locals employed to protect the pipes 
are often from the same groups as those who are stealing the oil.

Ever since a British-controlled company discovered oil in Kirkuk in 1927, 
the fate of the city has been tied to black gold.

A thirst for oil drove Saddam's Baath party to assert control over Kirkuk, 
driving out thousands of Kurds and replacing them with Arabs. Before the 
fall of the old regime, the fields around Kirkuk produced nearly 850,000 
barrels per day, more than 30 per cent of Iraq's total production at the 
time.

In the first few years after the fall of former Iraqi president Saddam 
Hussein's government, Sunni insurgents - many of whom as former soldiers had 
guarded oil routes under the old regime - blew up the pipelines to wreak 
havoc.

Since then, insurgents have realised that stealing oil is also damaging, and 
is far more profitable than pure destruction.

Today, Kirkuk's oil wealth is evaporating.

Qais al-Mifraji, a 34-year-old farmer in the village of al-Safra, 63 km west 
of Kirkuk, describes how the pipelines are destroyed.

"The insurgents usually come at night and plant a bomb to detonate the 
export pipeline," he said. "But if they want to steal, they just break it 
and fill their tankers. No one can stop them."

The riddled pipes partially explain why four years after the US invasion, 
Iraq has not been able to match its pre-war crude production level of 2.5 
million barrels a day. In 2006, production averaged 2.1 million barrels per 
day, mostly from oil fields near Basra in the south, which have not suffered 
the non-stop sabotage taking place in the north.

Kirkuk now produces just 180,000 barrels a day. It could produce at least 
400,000 more a day which, at current market prices, would net Iraq seven 
billion US dollars in revenue per year.

Over the second half of last year, one stretch of pipeline connecting Kirkuk 
with the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan - the main outlet for Iraq's 
northern oil exports - pumped oil for only 43 days. The rest of the time, 
the pipeline lay idle, leaking crude through dozens of holes drilled along 
its 320-km run through the Iraqi desert.

Another pipeline has been tapped into 39 times so far this year, according 
to the state-owned Northern Oil Company, NOC, which operates the Kirkuk 
field.

Qadir Omer Rahman, director of the oil products distribution department in 
Kirkuk, said that the 80km-long pipeline from Kirkuk to the refinery in 
Bayji suffered many attacks.

"Those who protect and guard the oil pipelines are recruited from the people 
of the villages through which the pipelines pass," he said. "They are the 
ones committing these acts of terror and smuggling, with the help of other 
groups."

Unemployment and poor living conditions spurred Ayad Hamid al-Ubaidi from 
Hawdh village, who is in his thirties, to join the gangs who target 
pipelines and steal oil.

"There is no one who can give us our rights," he said. "We have to use our 
own hands to obtain our rights."

Rahman estimated that three million litres of oil are lost every month 
because of sabotage, which he said severely affects the provision of 
petroleum products to Kirkuk and the Kurdistan region's three northern 
governorates.

Each stage of oil production in the north is hampered by criminal activity.

It is not only the oil and its products which are stolen by outsiders. 
Pumps, transformers, generators and other valuable machinery and spare parts 
are frequently looted.

Oil company workers are coming increasingly under fire from militias. 
Pipeline repair crews have been shot at and hit by roadside bombs. Sunni 
insurgents have been dropping leaflets in Kirkuk warning all government 
employees, including oil company workers, to quit or to face death.

Last summer, Adi al-Qazaz, then NOC's director-general, went to Baghdad to 
visit the oil ministry. After his meeting, he was kidnapped by gunmen on the 
street, never to be seen again.

While some NOC employees are threatened, others are suspected of cooperating 
in stealing both crude and refined oil. Truck drivers, as well as managers 
of fuel stations, are taking their share of the illegal business, draining 
supplies for Iraqi citizens who struggle to find cooking oil and fuel.

A source in the NOC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that there is 
a mafia-like group operating inside the company which smuggles large amounts 
of oil through pipelines, in cooperation with individuals inside the 
company.

"When an explosion occurs in a pipeline and oil leaks from it, the people in 
charge neglect it, leaving the leak for several days until a large amount of 
oil has been taken from it," he said.

Much of the smuggled crude oil is sold to merchants in Erbil through local 
brokers. They meet to do their deals in a restaurant in the sub-district of 
al-Gwer, 40 km west of Erbil, according to Ahmed al-Jobouri, an oil tanker 
driver.

At small domestic refineries, the crude is transformed into refined fuel and 
then sold on the black market. Some will then be smuggled across the border.

According to the NOC source, "the revenue from oil smuggled into Turkey is 
used to support the Turkoman Front in Iraq, and revenue from oil smuggled to 
Syria is used to support the insurgent groups in Iraq".

Fuel is heavily subsidised in Iraq. Petrol stations receive limited supplies 
and citizens are given vouchers entitling them to buy a certain amount each 
week at the official low price. But because there is not enough subsidised 
fuel, most Iraqis end up buying oil products on the black market.

A source in the Bayji refinery near Kirkuk, who spoke on condition of 
anonymity, told IWPR reporters that some officials from the General Company 
for Oil Products, which is in charge of issuing paperwork for the subsidies, 
sells authentic as well as false receipts to merchants.

The stolen fuel is then smuggled and sold on the black market, either inside 
Iraq or across the border in Syria or Turkey.

There is also small-scale smuggling. Salah Ali, who has been working as a 
tanker driver for six months, said receipts are issued at the Bayji refinery 
for 36,000 litres per tanker, which is their official load.
But they are then filled to their full capacity of 40,000 litres, and the 
additional 4,000 litres are sold on the black market for five times the 
price of regular fuel.

Similar activities go on at the smaller refinery in Kirkuk, said Irfan 
Kirkukli, the deputy chief of security on the city council.

"Several trucks carrying oil products smuggled from Kirkuk have been 
seized," he said. "Vehicles have been caught smuggling 160 canisters of 
cooking gas from Kirkuk to Erbil, for example."

Some petrol station owners, he said, sell their share of state-subsidised 
fuel to black market dealers.

"Many such cases have occurred in Kirkuk and legal action was taken against 
[the culprits]," he said. "The filling stations weren't given [further] 
allotments and their owners were fined."

To protect the pipelines and prevent illegal smuggling of fuel, several 
measures are to be implemented. Kirkukli said a special protection force to 
guard the pipelines will be formed, consisting of members of the Iraqi army, 
oil protection forces and the tribes from the areas where the pipelines pass 
through.

Officials in charge of particular pipeline sectors will have to pay fines if 
their stretches are damaged or oil is stolen. Kirkukli also said that funds 
have been allocated to support oil infrastructure and to build observation 
towers along the pipelines in western and southern Kirkuk.

Sami Amin Othman, the Kurdish chief of the oil protection force in Kirkuk, 
has recently hired 290 new security guards whom he plans to deploy along the 
pipelines.

This, however, has already created unrest among the local Sunni Arab chiefs 
in the area. They seem to be afraid of losing power because the new guards 
will be paid directly by the government and not contracted through them.

Because the people hired to protect the pipelines are often from the same 
groups that sabotage the pipes, and tribal bonds are often stronger than 
national loyalty, the illegal drilling is expected to continue.

Sheikh Ziyad Hasan, who formerly served as a contractor protecting the 
pipelines, confirms that people from the area sabotage the pipelines and 
profit from the oil. Many locals, he said, lack the motivation to prevent 
thefts.

"They believe that this oil serves the Americans and the new government, and 
that it does not benefit the people," he said.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/RAS359660.htm

Baiji pipeline ruptured in bomb attack

A pipeline carrying crude oil from Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of
Baghdad, to the Doura refinery in the capital was ruptured in a bomb
attack, police said.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/212/story/19893.html
Gunmen set fuel tankers ablaze north of Fallujah

A number of fuel tankers that provide the local fuel stations with
various oil products were set afire by gunmen near al-Gurma area to the
north of Fallujah resulting in the death of a driver.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1357144.php/Armed_groups_set_on_fire_20_oil_trucks__Extra_

Middle East News
Armed groups set on fire 20 oil trucks

Sep 18, 2007, 14:54 GMT
Baghdad - Armed groups believed to belong to al-Qaeda terrorist network in 
Iraq Tuesday set 20 oil trucks ablaze on the Fallujah-Samarra road, 
independent Voices of Iraq news (VOI) agency reported, citing a police 
source.
The gunmen also seized a number of drivers, while others managed to escape 
and reported the incident, the source added.
Most of the truck drivers, according to the source, are from Anbar and 
Salahaddin provinces who transport crude oil from Bayji refinery, 180 
kilometres south of Baghdad. Then they export it to Jordan and Syria through 
Anbar province.
The Fallujah-Samarra road is 100 kilometres south of Baghdad, linking it 
with Anbar and Salahaddin provinces.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070925/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Suicide attack hits Iraqi city of Basra
By ROBERT H. REID, Associated Press Writer Tue Sep 25, 4:59 PM ET
BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomber Tuesday attacked a police headquarters in 
Basra, killing at least three policemen, wounding 20 people and raising 
fears about security in the oil-rich southern city now that British forces 
have withdrawn.
It was the second major suicide attack to kill Iraqi police in as many days. 
The police chief of Baqouba was among at least 24 people killed when a 
suicide bomber attacked a Sunni-Shiite reconciliation meeting late Monday. 
An al-Qaida front group Tuesday claimed responsibility for the attack in 
Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
Maj. Gen. Abdul-Jalil Khalaf, Basra's police chief, said the suicide 
bomber's legs were found tied to the steering wheel - clearly an attempt by 
the attack's planners to prevent the driver from running away.
Khalaf blamed al-Qaida in Iraq for the attack, even though the terror 
movement was believed to have virtually no presence in the Basra area.
The attack occurred about 8 a.m. when the driver, wearing a traditional Arab 
robe and headgear, tried to steer his explosives-laden sedan into the 
downtown police headquarters building but was blocked by concrete barriers, 
Khalaf said.
The blast damaged nearby buildings and set several parked cars ablaze, 
witnesses reported.
Fears about security in Basra have been mounting since the British army left 
its last position within the city on Sept. 2 and redeployed to the municipal 
airport, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) to the north.
For more than two years, Basra, Iraq's second-largest city and headquarters 
of the country's vast southern oil fields, has been racked by violence from 
rival Shiite militias that have infiltrated police and government ranks.
Several of the biggest militias are associated with major Shiite political 
parties.
But suicide attacks - the hallmark of Sunni religious extremists - are rare 
in the mostly Shiite city. Officials were quick to point the finger at 
al-Qaida in Iraq, a Sunni extremist group.
"It seems that al-Qaida wants to make use of the fragile situation in the 
city caused by the tension among the parties and the city's officials," 
Khalaf said.
He said authorities had been devoting most of their resources to nighttime 
patrols but would increase the number of police and soldiers on the streets 
during the daytime.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/212/story/19840.html
Fallujah - 2 roadside bombs detonated targeting a police patrol in 
al-Zaghareed area near the town of al-Saqlawiyah killing 2 policemen, 
injuring 4. Local Police have imposed a curfew in the area after allowing 
two hours for cars to return home.
A member of theIraqi Police killed and three civilians wounded in an IED 
explosion that targeted their vehicle near Al Shaab Stadium in Zayuna 
neighborhood, east Baghdad, at around 08:00 am.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24264118.htm

Kirkuk police chief escapes unhurt from a roadside bomb attack

Kirkuk province police chief Jamal Tahir escaped unhurt from a roadside
bomb attack on his convoy in the city of Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles)
north of Baghdad, police said. One of his guards was wounded.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1362337.php/Six_policemen_killed_in_separate_attacks_in_Salahaddin_province

Middle East News
Six policemen killed in separate attacks in Salahaddin province
Oct 4, 2007, 10:23 GMT
Baghdad - Six Iraqi policemen were killed in three separate incidents in 
cities of Salahaddin province, north of Baghdad, an Iraqi police source said 
Thursday.
Unknown gunmen on Thursday morning shot dead three Iraqi police officers in 
the Sharqat area in the northern tip of the province, senior officer Hassan 
Ahmed said.
Before escaping, the militants set fire to the officers' car with the 
policemen's bodies still inside, Ahmed added.
Further south in Samarra, the Iraqi police found the decapitated body of 
another officer, a day after he had been abducted on his way home in the 
town of Duluiyah, 70 kilometres north of Baghdad. The body bore signs of 
torture.
Militants with the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq have been targeting 
residents.
In the town of Dawr, about 10 kilometres east of Tikrit, gunmen attacked a 
police station killing two policemen, a source in the Salahaddin operations 
centre said. One gunman was killed in the clash and five others captured.