Iraq plans to defend oil installations

IRAQ’s deputy oil minister warned yesterday that Iraq would take up arms to protect its oil wealth and predicted that a US-led invasion could push oil to $70 a barrel.

Taking journalists on a tour of the al-Doura oil refinery in Baghdad, Deputy Oil Minister Hussein al-Hadithi said Iraq would not set fire to its oil installations, as some have feared, but rather would defend them.

“We have plans to defend these sites with arms. We have an organised defensive force,” he said.