www.edinburghnews.com CITY VIEW Peter Clarke

THE world’s oil markets seem to be registering rather more than the normal fears about Iraq. The price of oil is staying solidly above $30 a barrel.

Venezuela is barely supplying its normal volume of oil. Nigeria’s two million barrels a day looks dodgy and the northern hemisphere is having a severe cold spell which has driven up fuel consumption more than had been anticipated.

The only tangible news that will relieve the market is if the US announces releases some of its strategic petroleum reserve.

The Americans have 600 million barrels lying around the country. Everyone had assumed they would not be opened until the day a strike was launched on Baghdad. At present prices, the gesture of opening a few barrels may become necessary.

In the meantime, a world market price of $32 a barrel makes many marginal fields suddenly profitable again. Techniques of extraction are now so much more sophisticated it is possible to suck oil out of fields which had previously been abandoned. At $32 a barrel, many North Sea oil fields look worth opening up again.

Once again markets far removed from Iraq depend on political or military events.

Electric avenue

There will be many unintended consequences of London’s experiment in road pricing.

It will be some weeks before we can see the full effects but one early initiative looks like a winner. The authorities in London have waived the £5 a day congestion charge for electric vehicles. Electric cars have failed to become fashionable because they struggle to go above 50mph but in urban landscapes where can you possibly achieve 50mph? Four miles an hour is often impressive.

Very quickly people will buy electric cars with a new enthusiasm and it already seems car hire firms in London are bringing in more electric vehicles.

If or when Edinburgh introduces a similar road pricing scheme all the arguments of ecological virtue lead towards a similar concession for free movement for electric cars.

The whole initiative of pricing this valuable asset of urban road space is going to reveal extraordinary new economic truths. Already civil engineers are arguing they could build underground roads to match the underground railways. We’re on the start of a large adventure.

Food for thought

NOT a single complaint has been made under the Supermarkets Code of Practice for their dealing with suppliers.

This investigation was meant to give flesh to Gordon Brown’s inchoate thoughts about "rip-off Britain". The Office of Fair Trading would like to have reprimanded the supermarkets for their purchasing habits but could find no one to offer a complaint of any nature.

Does this mean food suppliers are quite content with the supermarkets procurement policies? It’s just a possibility but the greater likelihood has to be that no one was going to murmur even the smallest peep of a complaint for fear of offending the companies on whom they depend.

Once again the OFT seems blind in one eye. The price of British groceries could tumble by 40 per cent, easily, if the restrictions of the Common Agricultural Policy were lifted or scrapped.

We do have a "rip-off Britain" but it is one at which the Government connives. It was only prudent of the OFT not to mention it yet again.

www.sun-sentinel.com By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Posted February 19 2003

WASHINGTON -- Billions in taxpayer dollars and swarms of federal screeners have made U.S. airports harder for terrorists to hit, but passenger jets bound for America remain vulnerable overseas because of gaps in global security, industry and government officials say.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of examples of gaping holes in foreign security," said Capt. Steve Luckey, security chairman for the Air Line Pilots Assn. "There is nothing out there to negate a recurrence of 9/11, provided [terrorists] do it at the end of the flight instead of the beginning."

The concerns are intensifying as a possible war with Iraq looms closer. They increased earlier this month when the government, citing specific threats against U.S. targets here or overseas, elevated the nation's terrorism alert system to its second-highest level.

Perfunctory passenger screening at U.S. airports has been replaced by close inspection under the federal Transportation Security Administration. One unintended result may be to displace the threat, making it more tempting to attack American aviation at less secure airports overseas.

"It is much easier for terrorists to plan and to move around overseas," said Cathal Flynn, who headed the Federal Aviation Administration's security branch during much of the 1990s. "These guys will go wherever they see a weakness, so every place in the world has to be considered high threat."

Under international agreements, all nations must provide basic screening of passengers and luggage. In practice, there is no uniform level of security. European countries, Canada and Japan have beefed up airport security since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Yet many poorer countries cannot afford to do it.

In Asia, Japan's added countermeasures are offset by spotty progress among Southeast Asian countries, said an airline pilot who is based in Southern California and regularly flies Pacific Rim routes.

"We do have a concern," the pilot said, speaking on condition of anonymity, "because it seems that Manila, Thailand, Kuala Lumpur -- those are some of the main route structures that all these terrorists use."

Such concerns are legitimate, said James Loy, who heads the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. "Security has become a new issue to be carried to the international organizations," Loy said in a recent interview. "We are trying to persuade other countries to become part of the solution."

One way to frustrate the government's $6.6-billion investment in protecting American air passengers is to strike beyond the reach of the U.S. security agency. An attack "is more likely to happen somewhere where TSA isn't located," said a Transportation Department official. "The challenge is keeping complacency from setting in."

The last known terrorist attempt against a U.S. airliner began on French soil. Richard Reid boarded a Paris-to-Miami flight on Dec. 22, 2001, waited until the plane was over the Atlantic, then tried to light explosives in his shoes. Last month, he was sentenced to three life terms.

The Reid incident brought a quick response in the United States as authorities deployed advanced equipment at airport checkpoints so screeners could test for explosives residue on passengers' shoes. But relatively few overseas airports have the $45,000 detection units, even though Reid's plot originated abroad.

"We need to get more equipment abroad to do screening," Flynn said. "We have deployed thousands of Trace detectors in the United States, but they have not been deployed to U.S. air carrier stations overseas, except in a few instances."

For travelers grown accustomed to stricter U.S. security, an encounter with lower standards overseas can be unsettling.

"There was no working metal detector, there was no working anything," said a California woman who flew back to Atlanta from Montego Bay, Jamaica, last month on Delta Airlines. "It was a mess. It was a horrible mess."

As she arrived to board Flight 682, the woman said security at the Jamaican airport appeared to simply break down. "It was packed with people, and there was no luggage moving through the X-ray monitors," said the woman, who asked not to be identified because of concerns for her job.

Jamaican security officials began to let passengers through, she said, although some were stopped at random and asked to open their bags for a visual check. If they refused, they were allowed to continue nonetheless.

"People were not screened, that was the thing that was so amazing to me," said the woman. "The plane was coming right into our borders, bringing passengers from God knows where, and they were not checked."

At U.S. airports, all passengers entering a departure concourse must pass through metal detectors and put their carry-on items through X-ray machines. If one person tries to circumvent a security checkpoint, it can lead to the whole terminal being emptied out or "dumped" for re-checking.

Delta Flight 682 arrived safely in Atlanta. "Nothing happened," said the woman who took the flight, "but the fact is there was every opportunity for something to happen."

Delta does not comment on security matters, said spokesman Anthony Black. "We don't control security in Montego Bay," he added.

In another example of apparent lax security abroad, British authorities last week detained a 37-year-old Venezuelan man at Gatwick Airport in London after finding a grenade in his baggage upon his arrival on a British Airways flight from Caracas, Venezuela.

The man, who identified himself as Hasil Mohammed Rahaham-Alan, was charged with possession of an explosive, possession of an article for terrorist purposes and carrying a dangerous item on a flight. He remains in custody.

Gatwick's north terminal was closed for hours after the grenade was found, and flights at the terminal were suspended until police determined there was no further threat.

For terrorists who operate globally, many countries can be used as staging areas for an attack. "Although the Caribbean is not a high-risk place historically from a terrorist perspective, it doesn't have a lot of good security and it is close to home," said Luckey, the pilots union official.

U.S. airlines could copy El Al's strategy and provide their own security abroad, said Flynn, the former FAA security chief. In Los Angeles on July 4, it was El Al security agents who tackled and shot an Egyptian immigrant who opened fire on the airline's ticket counter, killing two people before he was fatally wounded.

American carriers do have additional security of their own, say industry officials, especially on the busiest international routes. At some airports, the airlines employ their own guards to check passengers after they clear local security. But the financially struggling airlines cannot afford to deliver a consistently high level of protection at all departure points.

Among the standard precautions that U.S. carriers provide are reinforced cockpit doors and checks to ensure that no luggage is loaded into the cargo hold unless the passenger has also boarded the flight. Names of international passengers are screened against "watch lists" of people with terrorist links.

If war breaks out, many Americans are likely to stay home. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, travel to Europe and Asia plunged. International bookings fell for the first time since the end of World War II.

International standards for airport security are set by a U.N. agency, the Montreal-based International Civil Aviation Organization. With 188 members, it includes every nation in the world. The organization is well aware that the territory of any of its members could become the gateway for an attack.

"Like a chain, the aviation system is only as strong as its weakest link," organization President Assad Kotaite wrote this month in an industry publication. "A potential perpetrator will always try to exploit that weakest link, [although] his target may be halfway around the world."

But compliance with international security standards is entirely voluntary.

"What we do is bring all the member countries together and design security programs," spokesman Denis Chagnon said. "We don't track them, so I really can't comment on the level of security in any one country."

Such international agreements "aren't worth the paper they're written on," Luckey said. "There has to be some vehicle to back up the intent. If some countries can't afford to buy the technology, then we have to look at how much we can afford to subsidize foreign countries."

In the past, the FAA inspected high-risk foreign airports, a responsibility that now rests with the new U.S. security agency. The U.S. has several ways to pressure foreign governments, from publicizing their security problems to banning flights by American carriers to problem airports.

Loy said his power to influence his overseas counterparts is limited. "This is not our national turf," he said. But Flynn said the Transportation Security Administration has to begin to broaden its focus beyond the 429 commercial airports in the U.S. "There is a huge American responsibility here," he said. "The turf of other countries should have nothing to do with it if there is any concern about the security of flights."

www.stockhouse.ca 2/19/03

Gold Reserve Inc. (TSX: GLR.A - OTC: GLDR.OB). Gold Reserve reports that the Venezuelan Ministry of Energy and Mines has approved the operating plan for the Brisas gold/copper project. This approval is the result of considerable effort by the Company and has occurred at a time period when the economics of the project have been enhanced by the recent increase in the price of gold and copper. The Company has completed a majority of the required technical work and has already commenced activities with engineering and technical firms to complete the bankable study for project financing. In addition, activities have commenced to obtain the necessary environmental permits and approvals from the Venezuelan Ministry of Environment.

Rockne J. Timm, President and CEO, stated, 'The Company is proceeding with the Brisas 'stand-alone'project primarily due to the recent increase in the price of gold and copper. The last several years have been a time period of depressed commodity prices and we have advanced the project to this stage with minimal shareholder dilution and a strong financial position, allowing the Company to advance the project to the next level. We are extremely excited to move the Brisas project forward at this time. In addition, we do not believe the recent events in Venezuela will have any significant impact to our immediate or mid-term efforts.'

Gold Reserve's Brisas project in southeastern Venezuela contains a current resource of 9.9 million ounces of gold containing proven and probable reserves of 6.67 million ounces of gold and 871 million pounds of copper. The Company has approximately US$12.5 million in cash and no debt and no gold hedging. With 24.3 million shares outstanding, this amounts to 0.27 ounces of gold reserves per share, which is one of the highest in the industry, giving the Company tremendous leverage to a rising gold price. The market currently capitalizes these ore reserves at approximately US$3.70 per ounce in the ground net of cash.

The forward-looking information in this press release addresses future events involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from projected results. These risks and uncertainties include those described in the Company's Annual Information Statement filed on SEDAR and the 20-F filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR.

Internet - goldreserveinc.com

CONTACT: A. Douglas Belanger, Executive Vice President, 926 W. Sprague, Suite 200, Spokane, WA 99201, Tel. (509) 623-1500, Fax (509) 623-1634

www.canada.com CanWest News Services Wednesday, February 19, 2003

ExxonMobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, will resume loading oil from Venezuela's Jose port, the first U.S. company to do so since a strike began Dec. 2.

The Therassia will load 525,000 barrels of synthetic crude from ExxonMobil's heavy-oil Cerro Negro joint venture, said Ruben Rodriguez, the port's loading manager for state-oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA. The U.S. company made the decision after an evaluation of the port, Rodriguez said.

"The port is safe, and we're hoping other companies start loading as well," said Rodriguez. "We're in talks with Shell."

The shipment represents a blow to oil strikers who are in 79th day of a strike aimed at toppling President Hugo Chavez. The strikers have been able to reduce the country's oil exports by staying off the job and claiming that the ports are unsafe, which has led many companies to refuse to send tankers to Venezuela.

ExxonMobil spokesman Richard Bailey declined comment.

U.S.-based Valero Energy Corp. will also send the tanker Tatriz to Jose on Feb. 21 to pick up synthetic crude from the Sincor heavy oil joint venture, Rodriguez said.

Since the strike began Dec. 2, only tankers owned by, or chartered to, state-oil company Petroleos de Venezuela or the Cuban oil company, have used Jose.

Jose was shipping about 700,000 barrels a day before the strike started.

www.cnn.com Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Posted: 8:54 AM EST (1354 GMT)

We are conducting the investigation to try to answer these questions. -- Raul Yepez, Caracas police homicide division

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Three military dissidents and a female protester opposed to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have been killed execution-style after being kidnapped, bound and gagged, police said on Tuesday.

Police refused to comment on the investigation.

The victims frequented Plaza Altamira, the site of more than four months of protests against Chavez' government. The military men had joined a call for popular resistance led by anti-Chavez Gen. Enrique Medina.

A 14-year-old girl who apparently witnessed at least one of the killings was hospitalized after being shot, but is talking, police said.

Raul Yepez, deputy director of the Caracas police homicide division, said the four victims had been fired upon with shotguns. It appeared that all of them have been missing since last week.

"We are conducting the investigation to try to answer these questions," he said.

Despite occasional violence in Venezuela's political standoff, there have been no confirmed selective killings of Chavez's allies or enemies. Still, street clashes have claimed at least seven lives and left scores injured since December.

The Venezuelan leader says his self-styled revolution for the poor is a peaceful one. His opponents, however, blame his aggressive class-warfare rhetoric for inspiring supporters to take up arms.

Government and opposition negotiators on Tuesday signed an anti-violence agreement meant to tone down hateful language and discourage street clashes. The declaration, which has no enforcement mechanism, is the only signed agreement after three months of painful negotiations over early elections.

Forensics report

Police said the victims were army soldier Darwin Arguello, marine infantry corporal Angel Salas and air force soldier Felix Pinto.

A forensics report seen by Reuters indicated that at least of two of soldiers had been dead for about 72 hours. Their bodies were abandoned on the side of a multilane highway heading out of Caracas.

Yepez said at least one other victim was found on a farm on the outskirts of the capital.

The civilian victim, Zaida Perozo, had already been wounded once -- during a December 6 shooting at Plaza Altamira, where she was protesting, said Carlos Bastidas, a lawyer for the dissident military officers.

At least one gunman left three people dead and more than 20 injured in that attack, which opposition leaders blamed on the government. Pinto was a witness and had been considering testifying against the alleged shooter, Joao de Gouveia, said Bastides.

"It's very easy to put forward ideas or personal judgments ... but there is an element between this case and the case of Joao de Gouveia: that is one of the victims and a witness to December 6 have died," Bastidas said.

Chavez is struggling to consolidate his power after surviving a coup in April. He has rebuffed calls by his opponents for early elections to cut short his term in office, which is set to end in 2007.

Some top brass gathering at the Plaza Altamira were the ringleaders of last year's coup attempt. The military officers have been sidelined from the talks by civilian negotiators, but still sign autographs for loyal fans.