Soldiers ease distribution of propane around Baghdad

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A 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment soldier checks out the tank filling operation at Sarmoud Propane Station in Baghdad.


Soldiers ease distribution of propane around Baghdad
By Seth Robson, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 21, 2007

BAGHDAD — The black market price of propane is falling in Baghdad as 2nd Cavalry (Stryker) Regiment soldiers clamp down on militia interference in the distribution of one of Iraq’s most important household energy sources.

Capt. Travis Cox, fire support officer with 2nd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, who deals with civil-military affairs, said the black market propane price in his unit’s area of operations — around Baghdad’s volatile East Rashid neighborhood — has fallen from 30,000 Iraqi dinar a bottle when the unit arrived 11 weeks ago to about 20,000 dinar.

Cox reckons that’s because most residents are getting their monthly government propane ration from the Sarmoud Propane Station, a factory that fills thousands of 30-liter propane bottles each day.

When 2nd Cav arrived in Baghdad, the Shiite Mahdi Army had taken control of the station, commandeering truckloads of propane bottles that should have gone to ration card holders. The Mahdi Army then sold it, with prices inflated if the customer was Sunni, Cox said after a visit Saturday to the station.

Fouad Lghzaoui, who advises the Army on Iraqi culture, said the Mahdi Army was making an estimated $500,000 a month from illicit propane sales.

“Propane is a huge commodity for the people that is related to them having the ability to cook and heat their homes. We saw a problem because of the (Mahdi Army) infiltration and extortion in all parts of propane distribution,” Cox said.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50406