Four oil wells may have been lit

ORANGE flames could be seen yesterday on the horizon in the direction of the southern Iraqi oil centre Basra, and US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said three or four oil wells may have been set on fire.

Witnesses in Kuwait about eight miles south of the border spotted flickering flames on the horizon after a series of explosions shook buildings in the area and sent farm workers running outside.

The Arab satellite television channel al-Arabiya reported fires had erupted in Iraq's valuable al-Rumeila field west of Basra and just north of the Kuwaiti border.