Iraq

Saboteurs hit pipeline; exports not affected

Saboteurs blew up a minor oil pipeline in southern Iraq early Saturday in the latest attack targeting the country’s crucial oil industry, police and oil officials said.

The attack “did not at all affect” Iraq’s oil exports from southern terminals, a regional shipping agent told The Associated Press in the United Arab Emirates.

“Everything is normal, with a flow rate of 71,000 barrels per hour,” the equivalent of 1.7 million to 1.9 million barrels a day, said the agent, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also Saturday, a Cabinet meeting said the government decided to allocate the “adequate amount of money” to fix oil pipelines and infrastructure damaged by saboteurs. The statement, released by the office of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, estimated that every attack cost the government US$ 147 million.

Kuwait City

Court bails Kuwaitis allegedly linked to terror

A court on Saturday released on bail four Kuwaitis allegedly linked to militants trying to recruit extremists to illegally enter Iraq and fight U.S.-led coalition forces, an official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said three teenagers and an adult-aged man were released on 300 Kuwaiti dinar ($1,022) bail pending trial.

No trial date has been set in the case, which is the first of its kind involving alleged attempts to send anti-American fighters into Iraq from Kuwait, a close U.S. ally.

The four released Saturday are among 18 Kuwaitis arrested since mid-July, including four teenagers who were sent home from Syria where they had tried to enter Iraq illegally.

Iraq

Al-Jazeera office closed indefinitely in Baghdad

The Iraqi government shut down Al-Jazeera’s Baghdad operations indefinitely on Saturday, extending a one-month closure order imposed after the pan-Arab channel was accused of inciting violence.

Iraq’s Ministerial National Security Committee said in an e-mail statement sent to The Associated Press that it had decided to extend a suspension ordered Aug. 5 because al-Jazeera failed to offer an explanation of its editorial policies.

“Based on this lack of respect for an official government order, the Ministerial National Security Committee of Iraq has decided to extend the ban on Al-Jazeera from operating within Iraq until a time when Al-Jazeera TV headquarters sends an official response,” the English-language statement said.

Officials at Al-Jazeera reacted with outrage, but did not say how it would respond to the order.