Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein Announces Iraq Cutting Oil Exports

Aired April 08, 2002 - 06:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iraqi president Saddam Hussein announced just a few minutes ago that Iraq is cutting oil exports to support the Palestinians. CNN's Jane Arraf joins us live on the phone from Baghdad with more.

Good morning, Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, this was a surprise move. Just a few minutes ago, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was on state television, and he announced an immediate halt to oil exports. Now, that's a move that's aimed at the United States and at Israel, at the U.S. for its support for Israeli attacks on the Palestinians as the Iraqi leaders terms it. And the consequence is, he says, is that starting just a few minutes ago, according to the Oil Ministry, Iraq actually has halted all of its oil exports through a Turkish port and through the Gulf.

Now, the point of this is that most of those exports are bound for the U.S. American companies don't buy Iraqi oil directly, but indirectly, they are the biggest buyers of Iraqi crude oil from here. Now, this is for 30 days, according to the president, or longer, depending on whether, he says, Israeli troops withdraw from Palestinian-occupied territories. But apart from sending this message to the United States and to Israel, it will definitely have an impact over the long term on Iraqis themselves. This is the money that Iraq uses to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian supplies for its people under the oil for food program -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, Jane, is Saddam Hussein's actions likely to have any impact on Israeli-Palestinian -- on the Israel-Palestinian conflict?

ARRAF: Certainly, it would have an impact on the president's own popularity, and that's one thing he very definitely always has an eye on. Now, he has gained quite a lot from this by aligning himself with the Palestinians by giving money to the families of suicide bombers, and now this very dramatic move.

Now, there are a lot of people who are going to argue that this actually going to hurt the Iraqi people a lot more than it's going to help the Palestinians, but certainly it's a dramatic sign by the Iraqi president that he is willing, in some sense, to put his money where his mouth is and at least make this gesture of stopping the oil. It probably won't have any direct effect on the violence there, but it will send a huge message to the audience that he is aiming at, a lot of which are the Arab masses in the street in other countries -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Thank you very much -- Jane Arraf reporting live for us this morning from Iraq.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.