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ISRAEL - Israel's finance minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, predicted yesterday that the British-era
oil pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields through
Jordan to the Israeli port city of Haifa would be
reopened.
"It won't be long when you will see Iraqi oil
flowing to Haifa," Mr Netanyahu told a group of
British investors in London. "It is just a matter of
time until the pipeline is reconstituted and Iraqi
oil will flow to the Mediterranean."
The pipeline was closed during the first
Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and has never been used
since. Its rehabilitation would dramatically enhance
regional economic co-operation after decades of war
and mutual suspicion.
But the project is unlikely to become reality before
a permanent settlement between Israel and the
Palestinians.
ISRAEL, Ramallah 24 Sep - Mohamed Ashtiyah,
Palestinian housing and general works minister,
announced that the Palestinian authority is studying
a project for establishing a pipeline that connects
Kirkuk to Gaza Strip for transporting Iraqi oil to
Palestinian lands.
Mohamed Ashtiyah said to France press, "There are
surveys for the competent parties and we are
optimistic." He said, "The project is at the cost of
one billion dollars. The donor countries do not have
a problem in financing such a project." He pointed
out, "According to the studies that we have, oil can
be exported from Kirkuk to Gaza harbor through a
pipe, which is 1200 miles long and at the capacity
of 500000 barrels a day."
The Palestinian authority intends to establish a
harbor on the Mediterranean Sea in Gaza Strip, which
the Israeli army has fully withdrawn from it on
September 12, after 38 years of occupation.
Ashtiyah confirmed, "Establishing the pipeline needs
36 months, in case all parties agreed. It would
provide Gaza Strip, the western bank and Jordan with
oil, in addition to Israel, which would (certainly
benefit) from going through its lands."
The minister did not point out whether the pipeline
would also be used for exporting Iraqi oil to other
countries from the new Gaza harbor. He confirmed,
"There were attempts for the revival of the oil
pipeline between Kirkuk and Haifa. There is a
possibility for connecting Kirkuk to the Palestinian
lands after the Israeli withdrawal."
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