Saddam cuts oil to protest Israel

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Arabs who have demanded deeds to protest Israel's assault on Palestinian towns got action Monday: Iraqi President Saddam Hussein cut off oil supplies. The chants from the street grew increasingly militant, however, with protesters in Sudan and Jordan calling on Osama bin Laden to strike Israel. \nIn a nationally televised address, Saddam said Iraq would halt oil exports starting Monday for 30 days or until Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories. \nThe order sent oil prices up, but analysts said the cutoff would not affect world oil supplies because other major members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have not agreed to join Iraq, and other producers likely would make up the difference. \nIran and Libya have announced support for using oil as a weapon, but have taken no action. \nArab protesters have demanded their governments cut ties with Israel, wield the oil weapon or supply the Palestinians with tanks, but moderate Arab leaders have moved cautiously while calling on the United States to make Israel retreat. \nHussein, introduced by an Iraqi state television announcer Monday as "president, leader and holy warrior," has portrayed himself as a champion of the Palestinian cause, a tactic that has helped him break his isolation following his invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the ensuing Gulf War. \nPresident Bush has been unsuccessful in attempts to win Arab support for another attack on Iraq, which he accuses of supporting terrorists and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Arab leaders say an attack on Iraq would be insupportable amid Palestinian-Israeli violence. \n More than 3,000 Iraqis took to the streets Monday in a show of support for Saddam's decision, some holding banners reading: "The Arabs' oil should be used for the benefit of the Arabs." \n Elsewhere, protesters called for violence. \n "Strike back, bin Laden!" Sudanese crowds chanted, calling on the world's No. 1 terror suspect to exact revenge on Israel for its military offensive in the Palestinian territories. \nIn Jordan, Palestinians marched through the dusty streets of Baqaa refugee camp calling on bin Laden, who is wanted for the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States, to attack Israel's largest city, Tel Aviv. \nIn Kuwait, which owes its liberation from Iraqi occupation to the U.S.-led Gulf War, some 8,000 Kuwaitis and other Arabs marched on Parliament Monday. The crowd, huge by Kuwaiti standards, chanted anti-Israel and anti-American slogans such as: "There is no God but God, Israel is the enemy of God," and "America is the great Satan"