US, PKK loot Syrian oil, share spoils

Ersin Çelik
11:545/12/2017, Tuesday
U: 5/12/2017, Tuesday
Yeni Şafak
File photo
File photo

The oil sold through the pipeline established by the U.S.-PKK alliance is sold at a 60 percent discount and has brought in 500 million dollars since its first day in operation

The U.S. and its allied Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorists, continue to loot Syria’s oil by pumping it through a clandestine pipeline to Iraq, where it is exported from Kirkuk to Western oil companies.

The smuggled oil is pumped through a pipeline extension connected to the fourth Suweidiyeh pumping center, which produces 17,000 barrels daily and secures a monthly income of 10 million dollars that is split between the U.S. and the PKK terror organization.

Built in the Saddam Hussein era

The illegal Rmeilan- Ayn Zala pipeline was built by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in a bid to sidestep the embargo imposed on Iraq in 1991.

Saddam Hussein and former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad had secretly agreed to export Iraqi oil through Syria, however, at a later stage the majority of the pipeline was destroyed by American bombardment.

When the U.S. intervened in Syria in 2014 under the pretext of Daesh, it has reactivated this link between Syria and Iraq by rehabilitating it.

The oil sold through the pipeline established by the U.S.-PKK alliance is sold at a 60 percent discount and has brought in 500 million dollars since its first day in operation.

A 10-kilometer clandestine pipeline

During the Saddam Hussein era, a 10-kilometer long and 10-inch wide clandestine pipeline was built to sidestep the embargo enforced against Iraq at the time.

The four-year active partnership between the PKK, U.S., Assad and Daesh to plunder Syria’s oil through the Rmeilan- Ayn Zala pipeline is still ongoing, which qualifies as an international crime for conducting business with terror organizations.

Pipeline under PKK protection

PKK terrorists are tasked with guarding the oil smuggling pipeline in Syria and Iraq.

Over 150 PKK terrorists are charged with the task of protecting the oil that is pumped from Hasakah through Sanjar to refineries in Kirkuk, where it is exported to Western oil companies.


Assad’s man confesses

Syrian businessman Hussam Qaterji, who is affiliated with the Mukhabarat, Syria’s intelligence agency, has confessed that the oil smuggling trade has been ongoing for three years now in partnership with the U.S., noting that the amount smuggled by the Americans from Syria is much higher than what has been reported to the Assad regime.

In three years, oil smuggled through tanks and illegal pipelines has fetched over five million dollars, a claim which has been confirmed by ex-SDF spokesman Talal Silo.

The PYD, the Syrian branch of the PKK, was among the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The U.S. has supported the SDF, which consists of the PKK/PYD and other groups, in fighting Daesh in Syria but has largely ignored its links to the PKK. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States.

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