Iraq stopped oil production from its southern oilfields on Monday. The threats and mortar attacks on the oil ministry in Baghdad dashed any hopes that Iraqi rebels might not target the oil industry, source of Iraq's only foreign export revenues . An Iraqi oil official said Sadr's Mehdi Army militia threatened in the southern city of Basra on Monday to sabotage operations by the Basra-based state Southern Oil Company. "Pumping from the southern oilfields to storage tanks at Basra was stopped today after threats made by Sadr," the official said and added, "It will remain stopped until the threat is over." The closure is the first significant shutdown in Iraq's main southern oil sector since the handover of power to Iraq's interim government on June 28. Sabotage attacks shortly before the handover cut exports sharply. Armed followers of Sadr roamed the streets of Basra on Monday and controlled major intersections, witnesses said. Most shops were shut and most employees, including those of the South Oil Company, did not go to work. --More 2234 Local Time 1934 GMT
