Iraq gas shortage fuels rage, overshadows talk of election

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Taxi driver Raed Ali sleeps in his cab in streets that crackle with gunfire after dark, risking robbery or death to get a good spot at daybreak in one of the gasoline lines that wind through Baghdad's muddy alleys and gridlocked thoroughfares.

The irony of fuel shortages in one of the world's leading sources of petroleum is high on the list of hassles facing Iraqis, siphoning off much of the excitement over next week's national elections.

Officials blame the crunch on attacks on pipelines, ambushes of fuel convoys, a flourishing black market and crumbling infrastructure in Iraq's petroleum industry.

The shortages raise tempers and lower morale among a people already enduring car bombs, gunbattles, kidnappings, and assassinations.

"Along with other problems - oil and electricity - I feel like I'm living in another world. Instead of being caught up with the elections, for example, I'm busy with these problems," Ali said.

The 28-year-old cabbie spent a cold night worrying about the wife and two children he had to leave unprotected - and feeling humiliated by his life of struggle.

By midmorning he had reached a gas pump at the end of a chain of cars snaking through three miles or more of trash-strewn passageways.

Often he's not as lucky and misses an entire workday, a sacrifice he says has cut his once $18 daily income in half.

Frustrations over the fuel problem recently sparked days of protests outside the Oil Ministry and other government buildings in southern cities.

The demonstrations, which drew hundreds, were organized by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, taking the opportunity to harnessed some of the anger into support for his movement.

Militiamen loyal to al-Sadr rose up against the Americans and their Iraqi allies in April and August.

The long-drawn crisis has generated conspiracy theories. The latest rumor claimed the Oil Ministry was keeping gas supplies low to deter car bombers. The ministry felt it necessary to release a press statement to deny the allegation.

On one recent afternoon, tired-looking drivers switched off their engines and pushed their cars on a tortuous march through alleys and main roads to save the last drops left in their tanks as they made their way to Huriya gas station

Retired police officer Abdul-Razak Rafi had waited since dawn and hoped to get his black Mercedes to the pump by afternoon. The 52-year-old can only withstand the ritual once a month, so he keeps his car in his garage except for emergencies.

He and his wife travel to work by bus or taxi now. "It's a disaster, a tragedy. This situation completely affected and changed my life," he said.

U.S. commanders acknowledge such anger plays into the hands of militant recruiters.

Brig. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, deputy commander of the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, has his soldiers working to improve services such as gas, electricity, water and garbage collection in Baghdad.

"These projects will contribute to ensuring the new Iraqi government is able to combat the insurgency's ability to recruit and maintain the tacit support of the population," he said.

With Iraq sitting atop the world's second-largest known reserves of crude oil, the problem isn't a matter of shortage, but distribution, Hammond said. He blamed corruption, frequent pipeline attacks and decades of neglected infrastructure.

One recent attack closed a key northern oil pipeline for nearly a month. Saboteurs damaged a line that carries 400,000 barrels of oil a day from Iraq's northern fields to a terminal in Turkey.

Soaring demand worsened matters. An influx of tens of thousands of cars per month from abroad followed the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, which controlled the market.

Heavy subsidies that keep pump prices at around five U.S. cents a gallon - another Saddam legacy - have created a thriving black market. People buy gas at low government prices and resell it, sometimes at 20 times the price.

Children dot sidewalks and the edges of desert highways with jerry cans of black market fuel and funnels. The bootleg gas is of poor quality and can damage an engine.

Some in the gas lines were nostalgic for the order Saddam imposed. Others theorized that the Americans and the new Iraqi leaders wanted to cripple people's mobility as a precaution ahead of this month's elections.

Meanwhile, Ali says he'll continue to risk camping out in the streets for gas. "I have to face this humiliation and danger to feed my family."