Arab oil producing countries are convinced that their use of the product as a political weapon will in the end force the United States to change its policy towards Israel and the Middle East conflict, Dr. Nadim Pachachi, former secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said in an interview broadcast tonight by the BBC.
Dr. Pachachi, former finance and economics minister of Iraq, said in the interview that he did not think any Arab country should or would have any, scruples or hesitations about using its natural resources as a political weapon. “We have this weapon and there is no reason why we should not use it,” he said. The most effective measure in his view was to keep production at its present level.
Asked whether he did not think, in view of Western efforts to increase exploitation of their own resources, that the Arabs had missed their chance, Dr. Pachachi said he was totally unimpressed by Western hopes for self-sufficiency. British North Sea oil and American new fields will hardly be able to keep up with the increase in demands over the coming years, let along meet demands which already exist. Dr. Pachachi said.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
