timesofindia.indiatimes.com SANJAY DUTTA TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2003 12:15:41 AM ]

NEW DELHI: State-owned oil companies have placed advance orders for two months' supplies of crude oil from countries that have shipping routes beyond the Middle-East to guard against disruption in case of an US attack on Iraq.   "These contracts are in addition to the two months' stocks already being maintained by the refineries," oil minister Ram Naik, who completed 25 years in public office on Tuesday, told Times News Network.   Declining to name the countries on the ground that these were part of a sensitive "contingency plan", Naik said, "We are ready for any eventuality".   Ministry sources said the new oil sourcesinclude Brazil and Venezuela in South America, Russia as well as Angola, Nigeria and Libya in Africa.   "The idea is to tap countries from where oil tankers can sail without passing through the danger zone," one official said.   Middle-East countries at present account for one-third of India's oil imports, estimated at 70 million tonnes a year. The country needs roughly 105 million tonnes of oil a year, with only 30 per cent coming from domestic production.   India has in place term contracts with most of the Middle-East countries like Saudi Arabia (7.5 million tonnes), Iraq (1.5 mt), Kuwait (3.5 mt) and Iran 4 mt). It also has contracts with Yemen, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.   At present companies stock crude oil for 23 days (including 11 days of stocks in transit), petrol for 53 days, diesel 43 days, kerosene 51 days, cooking gas 19 days and jet fuel for 88 days.   The country needs 10 million tonnes of petro-products every month, while domestic monthly production is estimated at 3 million tonnes.   Naik said the oil companies were keeping their tanks topped up since last year's escalation with Pakistan. During this time, these firms are estimated to have spent Rs 1,100 crore on maintaining the inventory. However, some of it had been offset as they made money on initial stocks, which they had bought cheap, as international prices rose subsequently.   Naik said the possibility of war in Iraq, strike by oil workers in Venezuela and winter demand in the West had contributed to the surge in international crude prices which have breached the $36 a barrel-mark. "This has forced domestic prices to rise," he said.

www.newswales.co.uk 25/2/2003

Security scares at Heathrow and Gatwick Airports have highlighted how vulnerable Britain is to terrorist attacks.

But the discovery of a live grenade that haad been smuggled on board a flight from Venezuela to Gatwick Airport should not surprise anyone who has listened to repeated warnings from airport and security experts, according to the Farmers’ Union of Wales.

"The FUW warned the Government as long ago as October 2001 that terrorists could exploit lax customs controls both in the UK and abroad to smuggle weapons into this country," said union President Bob Parry. "The fact that a live grenade can be smuggled onto a British jet in Venezuela graphically illustrates our point that we are extremely vulnerable to attack."

Although the Venezuela case has shown how explosives can be taken on board a passenger jet, the FUW has focussed attention on the potential biological terrorism threat posed by the £1 billion a year criminal trade in illegal meat imports.

The threat was highlighted once again today (Tuesday) during a fact-finding visit to Heathrow Airport by the FUW and Plaid Cymru MPs Elfyn Llwyd of Meirionydd Nant Conwy and Adam Price of Carmarthen East and hosted by air cargo expert Clive Lawrance of Ciel Logistics.

Mr Lawrence first became concerned about the illegal meat trade when his staff were called in to deal with suitcases leaking blood and covered in maggots that were full of illegal bush meat, including monkey, antelope and bush rats known as grasscutters.

His investigations took him to several countries in west Africa, where he witnessed passengers filling their luggage with bush meat - with the assistance of airport workers. When he attempted to video what was going on, he was surrounded by security guards and told to stop filming.

Bush meat can carry a number of diseases which pose a threat to animal and human health in this country, yet the meat still ends up in British shops and markets every year. The FUW is also concerned about the tons of illegal beef, pork and chicken that arrives at our ports every day which could also carry disease.

It is widely accepted that the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic was triggered after the disease was imported into this country on a batch of illegally imported meat.

The same smuggling routes could be exploited by terrorists determined to bring biological weapons into Britain, believes the FUW.

"If we know that it’s so easy to smuggle large quantities of illegal meat into this country, then it’s pretty obvious that terrorist organisations are also aware of the possibilities," said Mr Parry.

"It’s not our intention to spread alarm, but simply to raise awareness of this very grave issue," he said. "The union has petitioned the Government to take the issue of illegal meat imports seriously, and urged them to invest far more resources into tackling this crime.

"We have suggested the creation of an illegal meat task force to co-ordinate the tasks currently undertaken by a range of law enforcement agencies including customs and excise, environmental health officers and the police.

"The union has also urged the introduction of X-ray machines to check incoming luggage, and teams of sniffer dogs working around the clock at international airports to counter the threat."

Although such measures would help prevent illegal meat entering the country, action also needs to be taken at source, believes the FUW.

"The fact that airport workers in some countries actively assist smugglers get the illegal meat on board aircraft is a major cause for concern, and needs a concerted effort by the international community to stop it," said Mr Parry.

"It is becoming obvious that the illegal trade in bush meat must not only be stopped to save several species of wildlife from extinction, but also to close a potentially lethal security gap before it is exploited by terrorists," he said.

Today’s visit by the MPs is the latest effort in a long running campaign by the FUW to raise political awareness of the scale of the illegal meat trade. Prior to Christmas the union, through Adam Price MP, organised a Parliamentary seminar on the subject in the Houses of Parliament which was attended by MPs and members of the House of Lords from all political parties. Union President Bob Parry also spoke to senior environmental officers in London earlier this month.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.25.03, 2:00 PM ET

PARIS - The United States fired a diplomatic warning shot across France's bows in its struggle to win United Nations backing for a war against Iraq. The U.S. ambassador to Paris said his country would consider "very unfriendly" any French veto of a new U.S.-British resolution.

LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair dismissed a Franco-German plan for peaceful disarmament of Iraq, saying it was "absurd" to think U.N. inspectors could find lethal weapons without Baghdad's full cooperation.

UNITED NATIONS - In a new sign of Iraqi cooperation with U.N. arms inspectors, Baghdad disclosed it had found documents relating to the disposal of weapons of mass destruction in 1991and to an R-400 bomb, chief inspector Hans Blix said.

ANKARA - Turkey said it was preparing to open ports and air bases to some 62,000 U.S. troops for a possible invasion of Iraq -- once it concludes a deal with Washington on financial support and military co-operation.

KUALA LUMPUR - Non-Aligned Movement leaders told the United States to give peace a chance in Iraq and U.N. Security Council members among them said they were in no rush to back a resolution that could lead to war.

WASHINGTON - Warplanes taking part in U.S.-British patrols attacked five missile sites in northern and southern Iraq, including a battlefield rocket launcher within range of American troops massed in Kuwait, the U.S. military said.

SEOUL - North Korea test-fired a missile and accused the United States of conducting spy flights, upstaging the inauguration of South Korea's new president attended by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

GAZA - A Palestinian teenager was killed by shrapnel and 11 people hurt in clashes with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, hospital sources said, but a rare snowstorm kept violence in check in the West Bank.

URUMQI, China - Rescue workers with search dogs combed the rubble of flattened villages in near freezing weather in northwest China in hopes of finding survivors from an earthquake that killed at least 265 people.

BEIJING - Blasts caused by homemade explosives tore through cafeterias at China's top two universities within two hours of each other, injuring at least nine people, police and school authorities said. No one immediately claimed responsibility.

CARACAS - Two bombs tore into Spanish and Colombian diplomatic missions in Caracas injuring five people less than 48 hours after President Hugo Chavez accused the two nations of meddling in Venezuela's political crisis.

ATHENS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it was decision time for a deal to reunify Cyprus, split between ethnic Greek and Turkish communities for almost three decades.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A gunman opened fire at an employment agency in Huntsville, Alabama, killing four people and wounding one other, authorities said.

www.nbc4columbus.com POSTED: 12:15 p.m. EST February 25, 2003 UPDATED: 1:37 p.m. EST February 25, 2003

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Central Ohio motorists continue digging deep into their wallets to pay for expensive gas, but are the prices fair?

U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine is investigating why gas prices in Ohio and other parts of the Midwest are rising faster than anywhere else.

Some gas prices have risen as much as 12 cents a gallon per day, NewsChannel 4's Beth Dal Ponte said.

Pump Patrol: What Are You Paying?

DeWine said he noticed that the prices seem to be going up the most in the Midwest.

The Ohio Republican, along with Wisconsin Sen. Herb Kohl, is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate any possible anticompetitive or anticonsumer practices.

The senators explained to the FTC that the causes of the price increases are not clear, and that it's critical to ensure they aren't caused by price fixing or price gouging.

Motorists think the investigation is a good idea.

"I think somebody should look into it," motorist Todd Coe said. "Right now, with the economy so bad, everybody is having a hard time anyway."

Ohio Petroleum Council Executive Director Terry Fleming said prices in the Midwest are not necessarily higher than other areas.

"In California, they're paying much higher prices for gas than we pay here," Fleming said. "So I don't know that that's true. And sometimes it might be, but it all averages out."

Fleming said there are several reasons for the high prices.

He said crude oil prices have gone from $18 a barrel to $37 within the past year, a worker strike in Venezuela has been going on for four months and there is a possibility of a war with Iraq.

Fleming said he is confident the oil refiners aren't doing anything wrong.

"Over the past 20 years, there have been 26 separate investigators by the FTC, many by states, including Ohio," he said. "Not once in any of those investigations have we been found to be doing anything illegal."

Gas-Saving Tips

There are several ways to cut back on the gas motorists use and reasons why they may not be getting good gas mileage.

Dirty spark plugs or other bum components can cost drivers about $540 per year, so tuneups are important.

Stopping and accelerating quickly and speeding will use a lot of gas, costing about $500 per year.

Only fill a car up with premium gas if the car's manufacturer calls for it.

Motorists can save up to $90 per year by keeping the correct tire pressure.

Motorists should not carry a lot of stuff in their trunks because it can waste gas.

www.utusan.com.my

CARACAS (Venezuela) Feb 25 - An explosion rocked a Spanish Embassy building and another blast hit the front of the Colombian consulate in the Venezuelan capital Caracas early on Tuesday, buckling steel gates and blowing out windows in nearby buildings. Five people were injured.

A security guard and two people were injured at the Colombian consulate building, where shards of glass and concrete debris from the badly damaged facade lay scattered across the street, authorities said. Two others were also hurt by fragments at the Spanish embassy site.

The blasts came after President Hugo Chavez, whose self-styled ``Bolivarian Revolution'' promises to ease poverty, accused the United States and Spain of siding with his enemies and warned Colombia he may break off diplomatic ties.

``If this had not been at two in the morning and instead at two in the afternoon we would have had a lot of dead from the impact,'' Chacao district mayor Leopoldo Lopez told reporters.

Police officials could not immediately say what caused the two explosions.

At the cooperation suboffice of the Spanish embassy in the east of the capital, the gate of the building was blown off and a hole punched in its wall; across the street, windows of another building were smashed. The blast at the Colombian consulate, not far from the Spanish embassy site, ripped into the glass facade of the four-story building.

Leaflets scattered at both sites referred to the ``Bolivarian Liberation Front,'' a previously unheard of group.

``Our revolution will not be negotiated, only deepened,'' one of the leaflets read.

Venezuela's bitter political struggle between Chavez and his opponents has often flared into violence and street clashes; media outlets critical of the president have been the targets of grenade attacks.

The Venezuelan leader's criticisms of the United States and Spain on Sunday followed expressions of international concern over the arrest of Carlos Fernandez, a prominent opposition businessman who was charged with rebellion for leading a two-month strike to pressure Chavez into accepting elections.

Venezuela's crisis has drawn in the international community, with leaders fearing the world's fifth largest oil supplier could slide deeper into violence as Chavez allies and enemies battle over his government.

The US, Spain and four other countries have backed efforts by the Organization of American States (OAS) to broker a deal on elections to defuse the crisis. But the talks have been caught up in wrangling and Chavez on Sunday appeared to brush aside members of the six-nation group.

He warned OAS chief Cesar Gaviria, who is chairing the talks for three months, not to ``step out of line.''

Chavez on Sunday also criticised Colombia after a cabinet minister in the neighboring country said the Venezuelan leader had met with left-wing rebel leaders.

Chavez and his foes have been locked in a fierce political battle over his rule since April when he survived a short-lived coup by rebel military officers. The president has recently hardened his stance against critics he brands ``terrorists'' trying to topple him by sabotaging the oil industry.

The opposition strike began on Dec. 2; it severely disrupted the vital oil exports that account for half of Venezuelan government revenues. The shutdown fizzled out in February though the oil sector is still struggling to recover.

But Chavez, elected in 1998, has so far resisted calls for an early vote of confidence on his leadership from opponents. They accuse him of ruling like a dictator and inspiring supporters to violence with his fiery speeches laced with threats and class warfare rhetoric.

His self-styled ``revolutionary'' government mingles left-leaning policies, such as land reform and cheap credits for the poor, with nationalism styled after 19th century South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar.

A grenade exploded in January at the Venezuelan residence of the ambassador from Algeria. That explosion followed bomb threats made against several foreign embassies in Caracas and the German, Canadian and Australian embassies were evacuated. - Reuters