Another attack on pipeline as Saddam's troops win pay battle<\/p>\n
James Hossack, Agence France-Presse, Baghdad<\/p>\n
Iraq's fuel pipelines came under fresh attack on Monday by
\nelements apparently bent on disrupting U.S. plans to use Iraqi
\noil revenues to rebuild the country, as Saddam Hussein's soldiers
\nwon a pay battle with coalition forces.<\/p>\n
The third attack on Iraq's pipelines in less than two weeks
\nhit in the northwest of the country on what was thought to be a
\nkey fuel line to Syria, amid a warning that such attacks could
\nbecome a daily occurrence.<\/p>\n
"The ministry is aware of an attack near al-Abidiyah al-
\nGharbiya not far from the Syrian border," an oil ministry
\nofficial told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
"It seems there are people prepared to mount such attacks
\nevery day on Iraq's pipelines," he added, after a gas duct
\nexploded west of Baghdad on late Saturday in a blast described by
\nresidents as sabotage.<\/p>\n
U.S. military officials said they were unable to confirm the
\nattack, which comes as the latest challenge to their plans to use
\nthe country's vast oil wealth -- the world's second largest known
\nreserves -- to fund reconstruction.<\/p>\n
Oil prices spiked after the blast, with fears that a
\ndeteriorating security situation could affect the resumption of
\ncrude exports.<\/p>\n
Despite U.S. officials insisting that the security situation
\nin Iraq is improving, the blasts have exposed how easily those
\nopposed to the U.S. occupation are able to disrupt rebuilding
\nefforts.<\/p>\n
Former soldiers from Saddam's regime, who have been in dispute
\nwith the coalition forces over severance pay since U.S.
\nauthorities last month dismantled the Iraqi army, meanwhile won a
\nkey pay battle.<\/p>\n
"The first payments to former soldiers will begin on July 14,"
\nthe Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) said in a statement, in
\na policy U-turn, after initially insisting the troops would only
\nreceive a one-off payment.<\/p>\n
The monthly payment would range from US$50 to $250 for up to
\n250,000 former professional soldiers, it said, adding that
\nanother 300,000 conscripts would receive a one-off settlement.<\/p>\n
The soldiers, out of a job since last month and desperate for
\npay, had threatened to mount attacks on U.S. troops unless the
\ncoalition either paid the money they were owed, or reinstated
\nthem in their old jobs.<\/p>\n
U.S. troops opened fire during an angry protest by ex-soldiers
\nat the U.S. civil headquarters last Wednesday, killing two
\npeople. It was the first time U.S. troops had shot protesters in
\nBaghdad since the city fell to U.S.-led forces on April 9.<\/p>\n
The statement also gave details of the New Iraqi Army the U.S.
\nauthorities are to establish, adding that recruiting for that
\nforce would begin next week.<\/p>\n
"A division of 12,000 soldiers will be trained and operational
\nin one year," the authority said, adding that the force would
\nincrease within two years to three divisions of 40,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n
Regular and deadly attacks on U.S. forces along with the three
\npipeline blasts in recent days have overshadowed efforts to drag
\nthe country back to normality and to get its oil industry running
\nat full capacity as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n
Top U.S. civil administrator Paul Bremer warned on Saturday at
\na meeting of the World Economic Forum in Jordan -- before the two
\nlatest explosions -- that Iraq's level of oil exports could fall
\nfoul of a deteriorating security situation.<\/p>\n
"We have had repeated acts of political sabotage against the
\npipelines and the refineries in the last month, obviously efforts
\nby the supporters of the previous regime to disrupt our capacity
\nto work with the Iraqi people," he said.<\/p>\n
"We're going to have to deal with that, you could have some
\nproblems meeting production levels," he said.<\/p>\n
Repairs to the pipeline linking Iraq's northern oil city of
\nKirkuk with the Turkish Mediterranean terminal in Ceyhan were
\nstill ongoing after an attack on June 12, forcing a delay in
\npumping oil destined for export, which had been expected to
\nresume on Sunday.<\/p>",
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