LONDON Ñ Syria has become the second largest exporter to
Iraq in a deal that exchanges goods from Damascus for oil from Baghdad.
Western industry sources said Syria is now behind Russia as the leading
exporter to Iraq. The sources said Syria has drastically increased exports
over the last six months and has reached a pace of $1.8 billion a year.
The regime of President Bashar Assad plans to accommodate the increased
Iraqi trade by upgrading the port in Tartous, Middle East Newsline reported. The Syrian government has
allocated $34 million for the project and work to increase port capacity is
expected to begin next month. Tartous is Syria's main port and used for the
transit of Iraqi goods.
Syria is receiving about 200,000 barrels of oil a day from Iraq, the
sources said. The oil is being exported from Iraq outside of the auspices of
the United Nations oil-for-food program.
The Bush administration has failed to stop the Iraqi-Syrian trade,
including the oil exports by the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that the administration has not made
this a priority in Washington's relationship with Damascus.
The Post said visiting senior U.S. officials have not raised the issue
or discussed it marginally during their meetings with Syrian leaders. Syria
has denied that it is importing a significant amount of oil from Iraq.
The industry sources said Baghdad has violated the UN Security Council
sanctions in exporting oil to other Iraqi neighbors. They said Jordan
imports between 80,000 and 100,000 barrels of oil a day outside the UN
oil-for-food program. Turkey also receives up to 40,000 barrels of Iraqi
oil.
Instead, the U.S. Navy and its allies have tightened monitoring of Iraqi
oil exports through the Persian Gulf. Iran is also said to have joined the
Western effort, with the result being a drastic reduction of Iraqi oil
shipments.
The Post reported that Iraq is believed to be importing only 10,00
barrels of oil a day through the Shatt al-Arab waterway that separates Iraq
and Iran.
