Muhammad Idrees Ahmad

The dollar continues to loose value with the super models and rappers now joined by the Indian government, which has also advised its tourist venues to refuse dollars.

The Saudi and Kuwaiti delegates

Meanwhile, at the OPEC summit, Chavez’s attempts to give the organization a backbone have once again been sabotaged by Saudis, who earlier played a key role in breaking the ’70s Oil embargo, and latter made OPEC all but irrelevant by producing over quota in the 80′s for the benefit of the US economy. The Iranian president’s call to switch to Euros was predictably opposed by the Saudis, blocking the possibility of for once holding the US to account for its depredations in the region. Lest anyone forget, the Saudi ambassador Bandar (which in Urdu means ‘Monkey’) played a key role in the US invasion of Iraq, and latter bragged that he was the first foreign official to be informed of US plans for the invasion (it was in fact the Israelis). Besides assisting US logistically, the Saudis have also been participating in the literal rape of Iraq. As reported here earlier, the preferred destination for rich Saudi sex-tourists are the Iraqi refugee camps in Syria now that the Israeli invasion of Lebanon (which the Saudi government backed) has put their primary choice — Beirut — out of business.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suggested an end to the trading of oil in US dollars, calling the currency “a worthless piece of paper”. The call came at the end of a rare Opec summit, and was opposed by US ally Saudi Arabia…

Speaking after the end of the summit, Mr Ahmadinejad said all leaders at the meeting were unhappy with recent falls in the value of the dollar.

Chavez (r) and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are staunch US critics

The dollar has weakened considerably against the euro and other currencies in the past 12 months.

Its decline has affected the revenues of Opec members because most of them price and sell their oil exports in the US currency.

Mr Ahmadinejad said that all Opec countries had showed interest in converting their cash reserves into other currencies.

“They [the US] get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper,” he told reporters.

But Saudi officials were against including any such language in the declaration. One is reported to have warned that it could add to the pressure on the dollar.

However, in the communique Opec did make a reference to the debate, by committing itself to studying “ways and means of enhancing financial co-operation”.

Iran’s oil minister said that this would allow the formation of a committee to study the dollar’s affect on oil prices and investigate the possibility of alternative trading currencies.

Political agenda

The summit was also marked by divisions over the role of Opec in the world oil market.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and his Ecuadorean counterpart, Rafael Correa, whose country rejoined Opec at the summit, both argued for a more political agenda for the group, but ran into opposition from US ally Saudi Arabia.

King Abdullah, the head of state of the host nation, Saudi Arabia said: “Those who want Opec to take advantage of its position are forgetting that Opec has always acted moderately and wisely.

“Oil shouldn’t be a tool for conflict, it should be a tool for development.”

President Chavez had opened the meeting with a warning that oil prices could double if the US attacked Iran.

Oil has been hitting record peaks of well over $90 a barrel as markets believe the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries will not boost production, despite calls from oil-consuming countries such as the US to do so.

Venezuela’s president said the price of crude could reach $150 or even $200 a barrel.