KUWAIT CITY: King Abdullah of OPEC powerhouse Saudi Arabia said in remarks published on Tuesday that a fair price for oil was between 75 and 80 dollars."We still believe that a fair price is 75 dollars and perhaps 80 dollars a barrel, especially now," the king said in an interview with Kuwaiti daily Assiyassa. King Abdullah -- whose country is the world's top oil exporter -- also said that prices, which have dropped sharply due to the global economic meltdown, would eventually stabilise at a higher range when the world economy recovers."The issue of fluctuating prices is governed by developments and conditions of the world markets. These (prices) are bound to stabilise at a higher price for oil in the future," he said.Oil prices were hovering around 60 dollars a barrel in Asian trade on Tuesday ahead of an OPEC meeting later this week and continued unrest in key oil exporter Nigeria. Oil fell from record peaks of more than 147 dollars in July to about 32 dollars in December as demand dropped off due to the global economic crisis but prices have since risen gradually.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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