BAGHDAD, July 11 (UPI) -- Iraq and Lebanon agreed Thursday to rehabilitate an oil pipeline that crosses Syrian territory and an oil refinery in northern Lebanon in a fresh move to boost economic relations.
The agreement was signed by visiting Lebanese Minister of Water and Energy Muhammad Abdul Hamid Baydun and Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Muhammad Rashid.
The pipeline, which carried Iraqi crude oil to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli on the Mediterranean Sea, was closed in 1982 due to the Lebanese civil war. It had provided the main source of oil supplies for Lebanon.
Iraqi oil is exported through three sea outlets, Mina al-Baqr on the Persian Gulf, Ceyhan port on the Turkish coast and Baniyas on the Syrian coast.
The Lebanese minister arrived in Baghdad earlier this week. He held talks Wednesday with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein on bilateral relations and regional and international developments.
Baydun also discussed with senior Iraqi officials means to increase the economic exchanges and trade between the two Arab countries linked by a free trade agreement that allows the free flow of goods in both directions.
He said his talks with Iraqi officials aimed at following up earlier negotiations held in Beirut last May on economic cooperation, especially in the oil sector.
Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Basil Flayhan joined Baydun in Baghdad Wednesday to hold further talks on economic and trade relations.
Iraq had promised Lebanon to supply it with all its needs of crude oil at competitive prices.
