Iraqis say ready to take control of oil terminals

By Mohammed Abbas

IRAQI OIL TERMINALS, Northern Gulf (Reuters) - Iraqi soldiers aboard the patrol boat scan the waters around them before they give permission to U.S. sailors to approach the Gulf oil terminal.

For the first time since U.S.-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein more than four years ago, Iraqi soldiers are taking charge of protecting the country's greatest assets against insurgents under a plan to hand over control to Iraqis.

"The Iraqis are doing the job," said Australian Captain Philip Spedding, who manages coalition Northern Gulf operations. "They're the ones manning the gun positions and the radar, talking on the radio. It's close to transition point on the terminals."

Iraq's southern oil fields and export facilities have largely escaped the kind of insurgent attacks that had regularly hit pipelines and oil installations in other parts of Iraq.

But Iraqis guarding the two terminals point to neighboring states and saboteurs as potential threats. An armed Iranian lookout post is visible from one of the terminals.

Rival Shi'ite militias are vying for control of oil exports in southern Iraq, which contains the otherwise landlocked country's only access to the sea, as British troop gradually hand over control to Iraqis.

Sailors from U.S.-allied countries have been training Iraqis since soon after the 2003 invasion, in an effort to rebuild a navy devastated by sanctions and wars.

They said training was beginning to pay off.

Iraqi troops guarding the two terminals, on which the country's tattered economy relies, say they are ready to take full responsibility for their protection. U.S. and allied troops say they have largely cut their role to that of supervisors.

"We're 100 percent ready. Iraq was always capable, but after the oppression we saw under Saddam Hussein, we were in a bad state," said Hani, an Iraqi guarding a terminal. Iraqi troops are not allowed to give their full names for security reasons.

On Monday, Kerbala became the eighth of Iraq's 18 provinces to be formally handed over to Iraqi security forces.

VITAL VULNERABLE OIL

An OPEC member, Iraq has the world's third largest oil reserves, and relies on its main terminal in the south at Basra for exports of about 1.5 million barrels per day.

As oil prices creep towards $100 a barrel, the terminals' role in rebuilding Iraq's shattered economy increases.

Iraq's oil infrastructure has suffered frequent attacks by militants aiming to destabilize the country, by denying the government petrodollars to rebuild. At least three attacks on Iraqi oil pipelines were reported since September 19.