Saboteurs Blast Iraq's Oil, Test Government
Insurgents stepped up pressure on Iraq’s new interim government on Tuesday with another blow to the vital oil industry just two weeks before a formal end to the U.S. occupation. Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban confirmed saboteurs blasted an oil pipeline feeding storage tanks at Basra in the Gulf, cutting exports by a third. “There were two sabotage cases,” he told Reuters. In Washington, President Bush said the United States will give ousted leader Saddam Hussein to the interim government when there is adequate security to ensure he stands trial. Bush would not commit to doing so by a June 30 transfer of power, as asserted by Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, but he did not rule it out. Full Story