Al-Qaida group calls for attacks on US oil supply

An al-Qaida-linked terror group has urged Muslim militants to attack oil facilities all over the world, including Canada, Mexico and Venezuela, to stop the flow of oil to the US.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula said in its monthly magazine posted on an Islamic website that “cutting oil supplies to the United States, or at least curtailing it, would contribute to the ending of the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The Saudi Arabian-based group said it was making the statements as part of Osama bin Laden’s declared policy.

The online magazine Sawt al-Jihad, or Voice of the Holy War, said the US would always be in dire need of more oil.

“In the long run, America might be able to lessen its dependence on Middle East oil and would be satisfied with oil from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela and other new customers, or double its dependence on alternative energy resources, therefore, oil interests in all regions that serve the US and not only in the Middle East, should be attacked,” it said.

The online magazine said the aim of the attacks was to “cut its (US) oil imports or reduce them by all means.”

The Canadian Security Intelligent Service declined to comment on the report today.

Ray Lord, a spokesman for the oil company Chevron, told the Canadian media company CanWest News that the company was not aware of the threat but it takes security threats seriously.

Al-Qaida has claimed responsibility for the last year’s attacks on oil installations in Saudi Arabia and in Yemen after bin Laden called on militants to stop the flow of oil to the West. The terrorist group also was behind the 2002 attack on a French oil tanker that killed one person in the Gulf of Aden.

The online magazine explained that the oil interests that the militants should attack included oil wells, pipelines, oil loading platforms and oil tankers.