Iraqi Worker, Activists Demand Hands Off Iraqi Oil

Dozens of activists joined Iraqi labor leader Hashmeya Muhsin Hussein for a rally and march Tuesday night to demand “hands off Iraqi oil” and to protest the proposed Iraqi oil law. The rally was the first public event of the National “Voices of Iraqi Workers Solidarity Tour.” The event started outside the offices of BearingPoint, the contractor commissioned to draft the Iraqi oil law, and ended with a march and press conference with House Representative Dennis Kucinich on Capitol Hill. Speaking through an interpreter, Muhsin Hussein told the crowd that the oil law is simply “economic occupation and the start of new tragedies for Iraq.” “Iraqi people live in a terrible situation. There is 60% unemployment; 9 million live in poverty; and this law would steal 70% of oil profits from the people of Iraq,” Muhsin Hussein added. The recent passage of the Iraq War Supplemental included language that would withhold $1 billion in reconstruction if Iraq did not allow privatization of oil reserves, said Representative Kucinich. “This is pure blackmail and against every principle that the US stands for,” Kucinich said. Iraqi oil union leader Faleh Abood Umara was scheduled to arrive in DC yesterday, but was not allowed to board his flight this weekend because of problems with his visa. “Iraqi people are treated like terrorists when coming to the US. The US does not want their voices heard,” said the Tour’s Coordinator Denice Lombard regarding the absence of Abood Umara. Lombard read a statement from Abood Umara about oil workers opposition to the law. “It is important that the American people understand why Iraqi oil workers, a majority of its Parliament and most Iraqis oppose this law. It serves Bush, his supporters and foreign oil companies at the expense of the Iraqi people,” said the statement. In related news, Basra oil workers have been strike since Monday over working conditions, wages, a voice in the oil law drafting process, and other issues, reports Ewa Jasciewizc, of Platform. (above) Muhsin Hussein leading march to the Capitol, photo by Andy Richards; (l) Muhsin Hussein and House Representative Dennis Kucinich, photo by Ben Lando