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New York, Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil rose to the highest price in more than two years after Iraq rejected the presence of United Nations peacekeepers under a plan by France and Germany to avoid a military conflict.

``No Iraqi would accept the deployment of such a force,'' Foreign Minister Naji Sabri told the Al Hayat newspaper. The peacekeepers would be present while UN inspectors stripped Iraq of its weapons of mass destruction. A broadcast statement purported to be from terrorist leader Osama bin Laden boosted prices in late trading.


This (their rejection) isn't surprising to me. The only way Iraq would accept such a plan is if they saw it as the only alternative to invasion. And then they would act just as the have with the existing inspections - doing just enough to prevent further military action while keeping weapons that they wanted. Saddam's MO is to draw things out as long as possible and hope that the UN and the world tires of the conflict.

Cheers,
Scott.