Kampala — THE PRICE of fuel in Uganda has increased by 50 shillings per litre. A litre of petrol is now sh1,580 and diesel is sh1,330 because world oil prices have shot up due to fears of war in Iraq.

Civil unrest in Venezuela and cold weather in North America have also impacted the world oil price but are secondary factors.

UN weapons inspectors have been in Iraq for over a month and have found nothing in striking contrast to North Korea that has just confessed to a big nuclear weapons programme.

With Korea the USA is saying that matter can be resolved peacefully through diplomatic means but in Iraq the USA is still insisting on a military invasion even though the inspectors have not yet found evidence of any weapons of mass destruction.

This smacks of double standards. The USA would invade Iraq tomorrow if Saddam Hussein had done the same as the North Koreans.

The latest proposal by the USA to establish after Saddam's overthrow an American led administration funded by Iraqi oil revenue will only make the world more suspicious. Oil prices are not likely to come down soon.

The world has been in a deep recession for the last two years. Economists have been worrying about 'double dip' recession where higher oil prices could tip us into a second global downturn.

We should not think that the prospect of war in Iraq is something very far away. It is actually something very close to us. It is already hurting our pockets but could hurt us much more if high oil prices precipitate another global downturn.