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BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 28 (AFP) - 15h46 - Iran and
Turkey are to increase power exports to Iraq, a
Baghdad official said on Saturday, as government
figures showed that electricity output in the
country plagued by cuts has worsened since the
US-led invasion two years ago.
"Iran has agreed to raise electricity exports to
Iraq from 90 megawatts a day to 150, while Turkey
will increase them from 150 to 230," said deputy
electricity minister Raad al-Haris.
The combined increases represent consumption by more
than 100,000 homes and businesses in Iraq.
But Haris, who was speaking in the southern Iraqi
city of Najaf, did not say when the increases would
take effect.
The official, who had earlier met Grand Ayatollah
Ali Sistani, also relayed orders from the
influential Shiite cleric telling his followers to
save power as regional temperatures begin to soar.
"Sistani issued a clear fatwa (religious decree)
that people should save electricity and not attack
the power infrastructures," the official said.
He added that work was being carried out on power
plants and other installations in southern Baghdad,
and the Shiite-dominated cities of Basra, Samawa,
Amara and Nasiriyah to provide more electricity.
Iraqis have suffered from serious power shortages
since UN-imposed sanctions followed then-president
Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990.
According to a recent study by the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP), three quarters of Iraqi
homes suffer power cuts, in particular around
Baghdad where the figure climbs to 92 percent of the
area's 1.1 million households.
Nationwide, electricity is available for roughly 8.8
hours per day according to estimates by the
Washington-based Brookings Institution.
In response, 29 percent of Iraqi households own or
share a private power generator, with urban figures
rising to 32 percent and rural ones at 19 percent,
UNDP data showed.
Electricity ministry figures put current daily
electricity production around 3,300 megawatts,
compared with 5,000 before US-led forces invaded the
country in March 2003.
Before the 1991 Gulf war, Iraq produced around 9,500
megawatts per day. The authorities' current target
is 6,000.
On Saturday, Haris held unnamed neighbouring
countries partly responsible for the power
shortages, saying: "Some neighbouring countries
refuse to supply us with electricity."
Insurgent attacks have also damaged the electricity
grid across Iraq in addition to repeatedly hitting
oil infrastructures that are the backbone of its
power production.
AFP
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