News agency Reuters has picked up on threats levelled at the United States by a self-proclaimed Saudi Arabian wing of 'Al Qaeda' that calls for attacks on US oil interests across the world. The group used an e-magazine to promote their plans of attack on suppliers of oil to the US in Venezeula, Mexico, Canada and across the Middle East :
"It is necessary to hit oil interests in all regions which serve the United States, not just in the Middle East. The goal is to cut its supplies or reduce them through any means...
"Targeting oil interests includes production wells, export pipelines, oil terminals and tankers and that can reduce U.S. oil inventory, forcing it to take decisions it has been avoiding for a long time and confuse and strangle its economy...."
Canada is the biggest exporter of crude oil to the United States, followed by Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
The country, which ships about 1.4 million barrels a day of crude to the United States, tightened security around its Gulf of Mexico oil rigs in 2005 in line with international norms, a spokeswoman at state-run oil monopoly Pemex said.
Venezuela said it was prepared to investigate the threat. "The Venezuelan state's intelligence apparatus is ready to launch any investigation in order to guarantee the operation of our strategic resources ... with a view to ensuring any early warning," Venezuelan Interior Minister Pedro Carreno told reporters.
The militant group also vowed new attacks in Saudi Arabia. "For some time now, we have been preparing some quality attacks which will shake the foundations of the crusaders (Westerners) in the Arabian Peninsula..."
The group claims that the Iraq War, and the War on Terror more generally is a War On Islam, and said attackig the 'Oil Weapon' was a necessary response to United States aggression.
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