www.voanews.com VOA News 17 Mar 2003, 20:06 UTC

A Venezuelan opposition leader who faces treason charges for organizing an anti-government strike may seek asylum in Costa Rica or another country.

Carlos Ortega was granted diplomatic immunity by Costa Rica Friday when he took refuge at the Costa Rican embassy in Caracas.

Quoted in local media Monday, his lawyers say he may apply for territorial asylum elsewhere.

Mr. Ortega, who heads Venezuela's largest labor union, went into hiding in late February after Venezuela issued a warrant for his arrest on charges stemming from the two-month strike.

Another strike leader, Carlos Fernandez, is under house arrest on charges related to the work stoppage aimed at ousting President Hugo Chavez.

www.forbes.com Reuters, 03.17.03, 2:56 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - NYMEX crude oil futures pared steep losses but still ending sharply lower for a third day in a row on Monday as traders speculated that an imminent war with Iraq would be short.

The likelihood that the United States will act quickly to release oil from its strategic reservevs to offset any supply shortage from the Gulf region also helped pull down prices.

In volatile trading, NYMEX April crude last traded 43 cents lower at $34.95 a barrel, extending losses in the past three sessions to $2.88 or 7.6 percent.

In a roller-coaster move, it moved in a $2.35 range, shooting up to $36.35 and just as quickly diving to $34 in the morning.

Nearby May was last traded down 76 cents at $32.60 and June down 86 at $31.10.

"The market psychology has palpably changed and the urgency to buy has disappeared," said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover, an oil trading consultant in New Canaan, Connecticut.

In London, Brent crude's new prompt month May last traded 65 cents lower at $29.48.

The United States, Britain and Spain ended Monday morning diplomatic efforts to win U.N. approval for an ultimatum to Iraq to disarm or face war. That, analysts said, now clears the way for the three countries to launch a war without a vote in the Security Council.

France, which has led opposition in the U.N. Security Council on a U.S.-British-Spanish resolution that would allow Iraq a final chance to disarm, said the move was not justified. Russia, which is also against the resolution, said any resort to force would be both a mistake and illegal.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has ordered the pullout of U.N. staff from Iraq and that all U.N. work in the country, including the oil-for-food program, would be suspended.

U.N. arms inspectors were packing their bags and were expected to leave Baghdad early Tuesday, a diplomat in Baghdad told Reuters.

The impetus to remove inspectors followed an ultimatum from Bush on Sunday that the U.N. Security Council had just one more day to give its blessing to a resolution sanctioning the use of force to rid Iraq of suspected weapons of mass destruction.

The U.S. has vowed to lead a coalition to disarm Saddam, who it accuses of violating U.N. disarmament resolutions, with or without U.N. support. More than 250,000 American and British troops are already poised to attack if the signal is given.

Bush will deliver a television message at 8:00 p.m. EST in which he is expected to make a final ultimatum to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to leave or face invasion.

Monday afternoon, Iraq rejected the U.S. ultimatum.

The U.S. has yet to decide whether it would tap its 600-million-barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stabilize domestic supply once Iraqi oil exports stop flowing, the U.S. Department of Energy said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Tauzin of Louisiana, the Republican chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said earlier that the reserves had been switched to "flow mode" and were prepared to be put in the market if ordered by Bush.

Iraq currently exports about 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude under U.N. supervision as part of sanctions in place following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Last January, Iraq sold about 600,000 bpd to the United States.

On Monday, the U.N.-supervised Iraqi oil exports were at a standstill and will likely stay that way until after a U.S.-led assault, which is now expected imminently, trade and U.N. sources said.

Iraq's oil exports will be halted indefinitely once U.N. oil export inspectors are evacuated, which is expected to coincide with the pullout of U.N. arms inspectors by Tuesday.

Saddam said early Monday that while Iraq had weapons of mass destruction in the past, it no longer had them.

The day's prices have erased about $5.50, or nearly 14 percent, since NYMEX crude hit a 12-year high of $39.99 on Feb. 27. From mid-November to that high point, NYMEX crude prices had built up more than $15, or 60 percent, about half of which was seen as a war premium amid fears of supply disruptions that a war with Iraq would entail.

Crude prices also rose as U.S. supplies thinned due to a crippling two-month strike in Venezuela backed by its oil workers that began Dec. 2. Venezuela's production is gradually being restored.

Crude futures jumped to an all time high of $41.15 in October 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of that year.

Meanwhile, NYMEX refined product futures tumbled sharply, moving with crude.

April gasoline futures last traded 1.74 cents down at $1.023 a gallon while April heating oil futures last traded 2.67 cents lower at 91.40 cents a gallon.

allafrica.com The Monitor (Kampala) EDITORIAL March 14, 2003 Posted to the web March 17, 2003

Kampala

Pump prices are rising every minute. That is no exaggeration. There is no other way to describe the triple upward surge in fuel prices in the space of one month.

Unfortunately, the spiraling prices are riding on the crest of a depreciating shilling, a slump in volume and value of exports and the jitters of northern Uganda/DR Congo war-weary investors. Government military expenditure has gone through the roof.

The plummeting of the shilling to an all time low, at slightly more than Shs 2,000 to the dollar, is an early warning of future volatility.

Considering this all out blow to the economy, it is odd that central bank officials continue to say the fundamentals are right.

By pointing at projected increases in the value of exports and private transfer inflows, and an almost on-the-mark fiscal policy, the central bank may be looking at the tail of a fish which is rotting from the head.

Government must devise "Plan B" to counter the dire ramifications of price instability because fuel imports make up more than 30 percent of the value of our imports. Local dealers must constantly reposition in view of the oil workers' strike in Venezuela and the likely American attack on Iraq.

The point is that unless the government devises a mechanism, within the limits of market dictates, to re-assure the public of high but steady fuel prices, there is a likelihood of speculation-spurred hoarding of oil products and the accompanying hazard of disastrous fires.

Everybody recognises that the fuel sector can only get more volatile. In fact, some sector watchers claim that now is the time for government to encourage fuel rationing and increased use of shared transport.

Before we get there, however, the government could start by explaining the danger of daily price hikes on the economy. The oil dealers must make projections and raise prices in a more systematic fashion. Government's "Plan B" can also shore up further confidence by explaining to the public the level of fuel reserves it holds.

www.newsday.com March 17, 2003, 3:38 PM EST

EDs: ADDs new grafs 4-5 with prosecutor's comment on extradition time frame wkfonsyr

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) _ Authorities in New York were seeking the return Monday of a 29-year-old man arrested in California on a warrant accusing him of the October 2000 arson at a Syracuse synagogue.

Ramses Uthman, formerly of Syracuse, was arrested near North Hollywood, Calif., on Friday, culminating a two-year investigation.

Onondaga County Assistant District Attorney Rick Trunfio said local authorities were waiting to see whether Uthman would contest his extradition back to New York to face charges of arson, burglary, criminal mischief and four counts of committing a hate crime.

If Uthman waives his extradition rights, he would likely be returned to New York within a week, Trunfio said. If Uthman contests his return to New York and insists on a hearing, it could be months before he is brought back, he said.

Prosecutors were trying to schedule court time Tuesday before a Los Angeles Municipal Court judge to consider Uthman's extradition, Trunfio said.

Uthman, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Venezuela of Palestinian parents, is accused of breaking into the Temple Beth El late on the night of Oct. 13, 2000, and using gasoline to start a fire in an area of the building he apparently believed was used for worship.

The fire heavily damaged a first-floor business office in the back of the building and an office above that was used by the Montessori Learning Center. The blaze caused about $700,000 in damage. No injuries were reported.

First U.S. Assistant Attorney Joseph Pavone said Monday that federal officials will await the outcome of the state case against Uthman before deciding whether to pursue a federal prosecution of the accused arsonist as well.

If convicted of the most serious state charges, Uthman could face up to 25 years in prison. He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted of a federal hate crime in the temple fire, Pavone said.

District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said at a news conference Sunday that authorities spent two years looking for Uthman in Michigan, Florida and California.

Uthman evaded authorities by using a number of aliases, different passports and numerous addresses to stymie his trackers. Witnesses also were reluctant to cooperate early on because they were "quite fearful" of Uthman, Fitzpatrick said.

Authorities got a break in the case in November when they learned that Uthman had been treated at a hospital in Dearborn, Mich., for burns he reportedly suffered in the temple fire, Fitzpatrick said.

Further progress in the case was made last month when an unindicted co-defendant began cooperating with authorities, providing information about how and why the temple was set ablaze, Fitzpatrick said.

Uthman has a lengthy local criminal record, but officials said they were not aware of any prior hate crime incidents. There was no evidence to link the temple arson to any wider plot, said Fitzpatrick, but the investigation by state and federal officials was continuing.

The co-defendant will face charges at a later date, Fitzpatrick said. Authorities declined to release his name, however, The Post-Standard of Syracuse said police records identified him as Ahed Shehadeh and said he drove Uthman to and from the synagogue.

Shehadeh, 29, formerly of Syracuse, is serving a 2- to 4-year prison term in Collins Correctional Facility in Erie County on an unrelated burglary conviction.

www.directionsmag.com Company: LeadDog Consulting Mar 17, 2003

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