Attack sparks fire at Iraq oil facility

BAGHDAD, Iraq – A mortar attack ignited a huge fire Monday night at an oil facility in northern
Iraq, shutting the flow of crude oil to a major refinery, and a U.S. Air Force jet with one pilot aboard crashed in Anbar province, a hotbed of the Sunni-Arab insurgency, officials said. Al-Jazeera reported that the pilot was killed.

As Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki prepared for a summit meeting with
President Bush this week in Jordan, Britain said it expects to withdraw thousands of its 7,000 military personnel from Iraq by the end of next year, and Poland and Italy announced the impending withdrawal of their remaining troops.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani arrived for an official visit in
Iran, where he is expected to seek its help in preventing Iraq’s sectarian violence from sliding into an all-out civil war. His departure was delayed by a three-day curfew, which the government lifted Monday.

Two mortar rounds hit the pipeline filtering facility 15 miles northwest of Kirkuk, according to an official at the North Oil Co., speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

AP