Malaysia's national oil firm Petronas is recalling employees in Sudan and Pakistan as a "precautionary step" ahead of possible US retaliation over last week's terror attacks, the company announced Wednesday.
Some 110 people including workers' families in Sudan have already returned in the exercise which began late last week, said Petronas president Mohamad Hassan Marican.
Those working in Pakistan would be returning in batches, while their families have already been flown home, he was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
Petronas has 230 employees in Sudan and eight in Pakistan.
Pakistan has pledged support to US preparations for possible retaliation against "prime suspect" Osama bin Laden in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Sudan was hit by a US missile strike in 1998 in response to the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which were also blamed on bin Laden.
Mohamad Hassan said Petronas' oil and gas explorations in Sudan, Iran and Pakistan have not been hurt by last week's attacks on New York's World Trade Centre and Washington's Pentagon.
"At this moment, our operation in Sudan was unaffected. We continue to produce 200,000 barrels of oil daily," he said. "Our operations in Iran are also not affected but it has been closely monitored."
Despite the recall of employees, he said work in Pakistan would proceed following Petronas' first gas discovery there in August in a joint venture project and it would be building another well this year -- KUALA LUMPUR (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
