OIL WAR

Fuel queues could be a tinderbox

With lines for gasoline stretching for miles and drivers forced to wait an entire day to fill their tanks, fuel shortages have emerged as a potent political issue with the potential to ignite civil unrest across the country. Two American soldiers were killed recently while standing guard over long lines at gas stations, and many Iraqis warn that the kind of widespread rioting that broke out in August in the city of Basra may be just around the corner.
Frequent power disturbances have shut down refineries for days at a time. So far, Kellogg, Brown Root, the unit of Halliburton paid by the American government to repair the oil infrastructure, has not offered to help. A spokeswoman for Halliburton said that the refinery was not damaged by the war and so was not a high priority for repairs, and that plant managers cannot expect to get all the equipment and technical help they need immediately.

[As Democrats demand further investigations of Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, President Bush says Halliburton Co. should repay the government if it overcharged for fuel in Iraq.}