Oil Sales in Ceyhan Are Suspended

Benon Savan, U.N. coordinator for Iraq, said in a statement to the U.N. Security Council, "The agreement regarding the oil has so far been handled by the Iraq State Marketing Organization SOMO, and the pumping and sales of oil for this organization, which is currently not functioning, have been suspended for the moment." It is unclear at present if the Security Council will permit U.S. officials to carry on with SOMO’s duties. The council has been seriously divided over the war in Iraq.