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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (189808)	6/6/2004 3:57:25 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1587571

UK cameraman shot dead in Saudi capital Sun 6 June, 2004 20:36 By Samia Nakhoul RIYADH (Reuters) - A British cameraman has been shot and killed and another British journalist has been wounded after gunmen opened fire on them as they filmed in an Islamist militant area of the Saudi capital Riyadh, a Western diplomat says. It was the fourth deadly attack on Westerners in the kingdom, the world's biggest oil exporter, in five weeks. The diplomat said the two journalists were in a car with a Saudi driver in the Suweidi district, filming the house of an al Qaeda militant killed last year in a security crackdown, when they came under fire on Sunday. The wounded journalist was not in a serious condition, the diplomat said. No further details were available. The Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement that unknown men fired at two people of British nationality in a poor district of Riyadh, resulting in the death of one and the wounding of the other. The attack came a week after al Qaeda militants killed 22 people, 19 of them foreigners, in a shooting and hostage-taking spree in the eastern Saudi oil city of Khobar. The attack helped push world oil prices to record highs before producers pledged to raise output. The Suweidi district, west of Riyadh, is a stronghold of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda followers and 15 of the 26 most wanted militants in the kingdom, including the leader of the group in Saudi Arabia, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, come from there. ROADBLOCKS Security sources said the gunmen fled after the shooting. Saudi security forces set up roadblocks and patrols across the capital after the attack. Saudi Arabia has been battling al Qaeda militants for more than a year, and security forces have arrested many suspected militants in Suweidi in recent months. Authorities are still hunting for three men who carried out the Khobar attack and managed to escape. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said on Sunday that militants were going after soft, random targets. He called on foreign governments to hand over Saudi dissidents abroad with alleged links to the violence that has rocked the kingdom. At least 80 people have been killed since May last year in a string of suicide bombings and attacks on Westerners blamed on al Qaeda. Security forces have killed or arrested nine on the list of 26 top militants. Bin Laden, blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities, and his followers have vowed to undermine the Saudi government, which they loathe for allying itself with America. A few weeks before the Khobar attack, which ended with a rescue operation by Saudi commando units, militants shot dead five Westerners at a petrochemical complex in the Red Sea city of Yanbu. In each attack, gloating militants dragged the bodies of a Western victim through the streets. Militants also shot dead a German outside a supermarket in Riyadh on May 22. reuters.co.uk

To: steve harris who wrote (189808)	6/6/2004 4:14:44 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1587571

<font color=brown> Well, now, isn't this the best?!! Thanks Mr. Bush! <font color=black> ***************************************************** Gasoline Costs 5 Cents a Gallon in Iraq Thanks to US Taxpayers BAGHDAD, Iraq - While Americans are shelling out record prices for fuel, Iraqis pay only about 5 cents a gallon for gasoline - a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers.** Before the war, forecasters predicted that by invading Iraq and ousting Saddam Hussein, America would benefit from increased exports of oil from Iraq, which has the world's second largest petroleum reserves. That would mean cheap gas for American motorists and a boost for the oil-dependent American economy. More than a year after the invasion, that logic has been flipped on its head. Now the average price for gasoline in the United States is running $2.05 a gallon - 50 cents more than the pre-invasion price. Instead, the only people getting cheap gas as a result of the invasion are the Iraqis. Filling a 22-gallon tank in Baghdad with low-grade fuel costs just $1.10, plus a 50-cent tip for the attendant. A tankful of high-test costs $2.75. In Britain, by contrast, gasoline prices hit $5.79 per gallon last week - $127 for a tankful. Although Iraq is a major petroleum producer, the country has little capacity to refine its own gasoline. So the U.S. government pays about $1.50 a gallon to buy fuel in neighboring countries and deliver it to Iraqi stations. A three-month supply costs American taxpayers more than $500 million, not including the cost of military escorts to fend off attacks by Iraqi insurgents. The arrangement keeps a fleet of 4,200 tank trucks constantly on the move, ferrying fuel to Iraq. "We thank the Americans," Baghdad taxi driver Osama Hashim said. "They risked their lives to liberate us and now they are improving our lives," said Hashim, 26, topping up the tank on his beat-up 1983 Volkswagen. Iraq's fuel subsidies, which are intended to mollify drivers used to low-priced fuel under Saddam, have coupled with the opening of the borders to create an anarchic car culture in Baghdad. Cheap used cars shipped from Europe and Asia are flooding into Iraq. A 10-year-old BMW in good condition costs just $5,000. Since gas is so cheap, anyone with a car can become a taxi driver. Drivers jam the streets, offering rides for as little as 250 dinars - about 17 cents. Analysts say the U.S. gas subsidies can't last forever - and Iraqis may be in for an unpleasant shock when they end. In the meantime, however, the American taxpayer continues to foot a huge bill. "The U.S. taxpayer has a right to be indignant, and Iraqis have to be warned about the long-run damages of this," said Anthony Cordesman, an Iraq analyst with the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The minute the aid goes out, the party is over. And there's going to be a hell of a hangover." The U.S. government paid even more last year for Iraqis' gasoline - between $1.59 and $1.70 a gallon - when the imports were contracted to Halliburton, the Texas oil services giant formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The cheap fuel is spurring unsustainable demand, promoting wasteful use of energy and transportation, and squandering Iraq's oil output that might otherwise be exported, Cordesman said. "You're leading people to buy cars that aren't affordable at normal costs," he said. "You need to move toward real market prices as quickly as you can without causing instability." Iraqi drivers protest that the price difference between a gallon of gas in the United States and Iraq is fair, because the average Iraqi earns around $1,000 a year, a thirtieth of the average U.S. wage. "If the price of gas goes up, we'll see lots of anger in the street," said cab driver Hashim, at a grimy filling station on Saadoun Street in central Baghdad. commondreams.org