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Major Iraqi Oil Refinery Reopens

The most productive oil refinery in Iraq reopened last Saturday after closing for 10 days under the threat of terrorist attacks, a move that might ease a fuel crisis that has worsened since long lines of anxious buyers at gas stations across the country started forming. The Baiji refinery in northern Iraq reopened after police began escorting delivery trucks from the refinery, roughly 150 miles north of Baghdad, to gas stations all over the country.

An Iraqi police official in the northern city of Kirkuk said Iraqi and U.S. forces had killed a Kurdish demonstrator who was part of a rally in the city demanding free kerosene and gasoline. The Baiji refinery itself had closed in December after insurgents threatened to kill drivers making deliveries of gasoline to gas stations around the country.

Insurgent threats and attacks on oil pipelines, gas stations and delivery trucks have increased since the government`s recent decision to raise gasoline prices. The move was demanded by Western governments as a condition of forgiving Iraq`s debts, but has been deeply unpopular among residents used to Iraq`s traditionally low, heavily subsidized gas prices. The protest in the Rahim Awa neighborhood of Kirkuk, in an oil-rich part of northern Iraq, appeared to have been sparked by the price hikes.