The authorities in the Gulf emirate of Umm al-Qaiwain have complained of a weak national response to the oil spill off its shores four days ago.

Some 4,000 tonnes of fuel oil is thought to have leaked from a barge which sank off the northern coast of the United Arab Emirates in high winds.

The UAE is a group of seven emirates linked in a federation.

A local official, Abdalluh Bu Ruwiedha, said little effort had been made to fight the slick.

"We appeal to the federal (UAE) and local authorities (in Umm al-Qaiwain) concerned to double their efforts and work out an integrated strategy to fight the oil slick."

The state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company said in a statement that it had sent out experts to try to limit the pollution.

Foreign experts have also flown to the area to assist.

The BBC correspondent in the UAE says the waters of Umm al-Qaiwain harbour have turned a murky black because of the slick.

Fishing nets are clogged up, and tourists are leaving their hotels in droves because of the fumes coming from the slick.

Umm al-Qaiwain was hoping to develop its tourist industry as a major revenue earner for 1998.

A local newspaper said that mangrove swamps in the area were threatened by the oil spill. The trees were grown by a marine research centre to provide a habitat for shrimps and small fish.

The spill is already reported to have killed millions of fish larvae.
 

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