Iraqi PM: Pipeline Attacks Have Drained Over $1 Billion From Reconstruction Funds

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announced Tuesday that repeated sabotage of oil infrastructure had cost Iraq more than $1 billion, funds he said came directly from money set aside for rebuilding the country.

Allawi made the remarks at a gathering with tribal leaders from the Baghdad district of Sadr City, where discussion focused on reconstruction efforts. US Ambassador John Negroponte also attended the meeting.

Southern Iraq, which generates roughly 90 percent of the country's oil exports, has seen a series of pipeline attacks in recent weeks. Iraq holds the world's second-largest proven oil reserves.

On a more positive note, the northern city of Kirkuk concluded its first postwar supply contract with a refiner in Türkiye, a development seen as a sign that security measures around northern pipelines were beginning to show results.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.