U.S. asks Turkey to stop Iraq oil

WASHINGTON -- The United States is asking Iraq's neighbors to stop the flow of Baghdad's oil, saying the money supports the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

U.S. officials said the Clinton administration has raised the subject with Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Persian Gulf states. They said the administration has had the greatest success with Iran.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State William B. Wood told the House of Representatives Energy and Power subcommittee that the focus of U.S. efforts is Turkey, the closest ally of Washington among Iraq's neighbors.

"We continue to work with Turkey to find a way to bring illicit trade over the Turkish border within the framework of the oil-for-food program," Wood said on Friday. "We believe a similar approach should also be taken regarding Syria. With respect to the smuggling of Iraqi gasoil through Iranian territorial waters, we have had considerable success over the past year in combining efforts to bring third-country pressure to bear on Tehran to end the trade with more direct military actions."

Wood said last December U.S. and British war planes bombed the Basra refinery, used as part of Iraq's illegal oil trade. He said multi-national troops have also been deployed to shut down smuggling routes.

The U.S. official said Jordan continues to trade food and other goods for Iraqi oil at bargain prices. The United States, he said, continues to "work to reduce Jordan's dependence on Iraqi oil."

The United Nations allows Iraq to sell up to $5.2 billion worth of oil every six months. Two-thirds of the funds goes towards the purchase of food, medicine and other humanitarian goods such as water and sanitation infrastructure supplies. The remaining one-third goes to pay claims arising from Iraq's occupation of Kuwait and to pay U.N. administrative and inspection costs.