Paritzky will travel to Amman for talks on revival Iraqi oil supplies to Israel

TEL AVIV, April 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israel and Jordan will hold meetings about the possibility of restarting an oil pipeline from Iraq to Israel via Jordan that was closed 55 years ago, an Israeli National Infrastructure Ministry source claimed Wednesday, April 9.

The source said Israeli Minister of Infrastructure Yosef Paritzky will meet Jordanian officials on restarting the pipeline, which sent Iraqi oil from Mosul to the northern Israeli port of Haifa during the British mandate period, on the assumption a pro-U.S. government will be set up in Baghdad.

Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said talks would be held when Paritzky makes his visit to Amman after the Passover holiday, adding the Israeli minister was informed that the U.S.-led war against Iraq would decisively affect Israel's oil sector.

"Jordan contacted the prime minister's office who asked the minister (Paritzky) to meet with the Jordanian officials," the source claimed.

"We know the section of the pipeline here is in excellent condition but we want to know what the Jordanian part is like and whether it can be restarted easily," according to the source.

Haaretz daily reported on Monday, March 31, that Paritzky had requested an assessment of the condition of the old pipeline from Mosul to Haifa, with an eye on renewing the flow of oil in the event of friendly post-war regime in Iraq.

Paritzky explained to the paper that resurrecting the pipeline to Haifa could save Israel the high cost of shipping oil from Russia.

The Infrastructure Ministry source said Paritzky believes restarting the pipeline could reduce Israel's fuel costs by 25 percent and turn Haifa into "the Rotterdam of the Middle East."

The flow of Iraqi oil to Haifa stopped in 1948 with the end of the British mandate and the 1948 war that followed and the establishment of Israel, the source said.

"It's too soon to estimate the chances of the pipeline restarting or its financial impact for Israel although it would obviously be substantial," the source said. "It depends on what kind of government takes office in Iraq.

"The Jordanians are optimistic though and the minister is very keen to try and flesh out a plan for restarting the oil flow," the source said.

"Allegations"

But Jordanian analysts looked skeptically at the statements as premature.

"It is a sort of precipitating matters to talk about the pipeline, as it is to be considered a form of rewarding Israel for its support to the U.S.-led war against Iraq," journalist Gamal al-Nemeri told Al-Jzaeera TV channel.

Undermining the statements of the source, he said "we should not trust Israeli statements".

"We are used to hearing such allegations from the Israelis," stressed the Jordanian reporter.