LIBYA IN THE NEWS

1. Libya's Gaddafi: Open borders to fighters
April 1, 2002 Posted: 1:40 PM EST (1840 GMT) TRIPOLI, April 1 (Reuters)

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi led a mass march through Tripoli to show solidarity with Palestinians on Monday and urged Arab states to allow volunteer fighters to cross borders and join the Palestinian uprising.

"Arab leaders have to take to the streets and join protesters, open the borders to people who want to fight to free al Qods (Jerusalem) and Abu Ammar and incite people to fight," Gaddafi told a rally at Green Square in central Tripoli.

Eyewitnesses said thousands marched in the Libyan capital to protest against Israel's siege of Palestinian leader Yasser, also known here as Abu Ammar. They halted in Green Square and the adjacent streets to hear Gaddafi's fiery oratory.

"Thousands of Libyans are ready to defend the Palestinian people. I challenge Arab leaders to open the borders for them to cross into Palestine," he said.

Gaddafi did not say which countries he wanted to open their borders to Libyan volunteers. Only Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria have borders with Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The mercurial Libyan leader said the Arabs had the right to fight Israel because the Jewish state had dismissed a Saudi peace initiative and poured more troops and tanks into Palestinian areas.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared Arafat an "enemy" on Friday and sent tanks to besiege him in his headquarters compound in Ramallah after a suicide bombing in the coastal resort of Netany a. Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers smashed their way into the headquarters and cut water and electricity supplies and telephone lines. Troops have clashed with his bodyguards, raising fears for Arafat's life.

"We are the victims of aggression. We in the Middle East and North Africa are staying on our land. We did not go overseas to attack other people. We are in a state of legitimate self-defense," Gaddafi said.

In Tunis, the capital of neighboring Tunisia, about 5,000 government supporters marched through the city center to denounce the military action ordered by Sharon.

"Sharon butcher, Palestine is an Arab land!" shouted protesters, waving pictures of Arafat and Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali.

Copyright 2002 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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2. Libya seeks Arab summit on Israel
April 1, 2002 Posted: 5:59 AM EST (1059 GMT) KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters)

Arab foreign ministers are on standby to attend an emergency Arab League summit proposed by Libya to discuss Israeli attacks on the Palestinian Authority, a Palestinian official told Reuters in Malaysia on Monday.

"Many ministers have decided not to show up (to an Islamic conference in Malaysia... because they are on a standby and holding intense consultations on a request by Libya for an emergency Arab Summit," a member of the Palestinian delegation said.

More than half of 22 members of the Arab League decided against sending their foreign ministers to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers meeting in Kuala Lumpur to discuss terrorism. They sent lower level delegations instead.

The Palestinian delegate said it was unlikely the Arab countries would agree to another summit so soon after last week's meeting in Beirut, but a foreign ministers' meeting was possible.

"Possibly they will satisfy Libya by holding an emergency Arab foreign ministers meeting this week in Cairo," he said.

The Arab League's headquarters are in Cairo. The frontline states Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria did not send their foreign ministers. Nor did regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia or neighbours Kuwait and Yemen. The North African countries Algeria, Libya, Morocco also sent lower level representatives.

Copyright 2002 Reu ters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CNN.com/World. 3 April 2002. <http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/africa/04/01/mideast.arabs.meeting.reut/index.html>.

3. Possible Oil Embargo

Consumers pay price for higher oil
April 3, 2002 Posted: 6:26 AM EST LONDON, England (CNN) -

Oil prices slipped back from six-month highs on Wednesday after a surprising jump in U.S. crude inventories overshadowed fears that the Middle East conflict could hamper exports from the region.

But despite a temporary drop in the cost of crude, the impact of rising wholesale prices since September has already spilled over at petrol pumps. In London, crude for May delivery was down 81 cents to $26.85 a barrel in early trading London on Wednesday. In New York, May crude fell 33 cents to $27.38.

The declines followed a report that crude stockpiles in the U.S. rose more than expected last week. However, with crude expected to regain its upward momentum as Mideast tensions continue -- and with the traditional summer rush to the pumps about to begin -- there appears to be little let-up for consumers.

In the United States, gas prices have been rising for four straight weeks, according to the Energy Information Administration. The hardest hit cities have been San Francisco and Los Angeles.

"U.S. refiners are beginning to look towards the summer," Julian Lee, an analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies, told CNN. "They are looking towards rising demand for gasoline. And they are now beginning to search around for crude oil that simply isn't there because OPEC has taken it off the market."

In Europe, German consumers are seeing gas prices as their highest levels in seven months. In Sweden, the cost of petrol has been rising almost on a weekly basis. And in the UK, many drivers having paying higher petrol prices since mid-March. Companies like BP, ChevronTexaco, Shell and TotalFinaElf have said the full impact of the rise in crude prices has yet to feed through to British petrol pumps.

However, many European retailers say their profits are razor thin. If crude was to hit the $30 a barrel level -- which many analysts are predicting -- consumers can expect to pay even more in coming months.

Oil prices have jumped more than 50 percent since mid-January as the U.S. economic rebound has stoked demand. At the same time, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has held back supplies while markets have worried about possible military action against Iraq.

On Tuesday, Iraq's acting Foreign Minister Human Abdul-Khaleq Abdul-Ghafur said Baghdad was ready to cut off oil supplies to the U.S. if Iran did the same.

In the 1970s, Arab nations imposed an oil embargo on Western countries that helped trigger a worldwide recession.

Saudi Arabia and other major OPEC producers have said they have no intention of repeating the oil embargo.

Some analysts say an embargo would not have the same impact now as it did in the 1970s.

CNN.com. 3 April 2002 <http://www.cnn.com/2002/BUSINESS/04/03/oil.pumps/index.html>.