Iraq blocks oil exports

Saddam Hussein has announced Iraq will stop oil exports for 30 days or until Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories.

In a nationally televised speech, Saddam said all exports would be cut.

The oil minister said the move took effect as Saddam spoke.

Meanwhile, Libya has come out in support of Iran's call for oil-producing nations to halt supplies to Israel's western allies.

The official news agency, JANA, reports an unnamed government official as saying: "The great Jamahiriya (Libyan republic) supports Iran's call to stop oil supplies to countries that back the Zionist entity."

The report said that such a step, if supported by other Arab and Islamic oil-producers, would "stop the Zionist train of death in Palestine."

On Friday the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Islamic countries should stop supplying oil for one month to countries with close relations with Israel.

But two other oil producers, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, have opposed the idea of using oil as a weapon.