IRAQ-OIL STRATEGY
The Iraqi government is in a bind as it takes on lawless militia fighters and tries to restore oil output hit by the recent fighting in the south, especially around Basra. As well as slowing vital exports, the fighting threatens a recent, rare opening for foreign companies eager to tap the country's massive oil reserves and challenges plans by U.S. President George W. Bush to markedly step up its oil exports.
Crude-oil futures climbed Thursday following a pipeline blast near Basra, rising $1.28 to $107.18 a barrel. The U.S. stock market, meanwhile, retreated, with the Dow industrials shedding more than 120 points, led by the technology and financial sectors following worrisome developments at Oracle and Google, which raised concerns about the broader economy. At the same time, the U.S. dollar appears poised to weaken below seven yuan for the first time.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrives in Jerusalem Saturday, will find Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's stated goal of advancing the Bush administration's peace process increasingly in tension with his efforts to hold onto power. That's because the small Shas party, on which he depends for support, seeks to expand settlements in the West Bank and reject talks over the status of Jerusalem, contradicting what Ms. Rice has stated are Israel's clear obligations in the peace process.
Read Hassan Hafidh's report from Amman, Jordan:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120660810708368287.html?mod=djemasialinks
Read John McKinnon's report on President Bush's aim:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120664079795969101.html?mod=djemasialinks
Read Cam Simpson's report on Condoleeza Rice's weekend Mideast visit:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120661381394768259.html?mod=djemasialinks
Read Peter A. McKay's report on the U.S. stock market's fall Thursday:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120661437353968365.html?mod=djemasialinks
Read Denis McMahon's report from Shanghai on the dollar set to breach seven yuan:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120665140071869585.html?mod=djemasialinks
