Pipeline To Northern Iraq Refinery Sabotaged

KIRKUK, Iraq, Sept 11 (AFP) - A pipeline linking an oilfield in this northern Iraqi city with the Havana refinery was sabotaged by gunmen on Saturday, an executive of the North Oil Co. said.
"The 35.5 centimetre (14-inch) pipeline was sabotaged at 3:15 pm (1115 GMT) by unknown attackers who opened fire with automatic weapons, causing an important breach," said the executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"The flow was stopped and sand dikes built to stop the crude from spreading," he added.
The Havana refinery is located 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Kirkuk.
Separately, three NOC security guards were wounded, one of them seriously, when attackers opened fire on them near the village of Hatin, 30 kilometres north of Kirkuk at 3:30 am (2330 GMT Friday), a police officer said.
Captain Awad Abdullah al-Hamadani said the security men returned fire and may have hit one of their attackers.