Orange flames were seen in the direction of the oil center, witnesses said.

It was not clear what caused the fire of the oilfield, which is the most important to both Iraq and Kuwait.

The Rumaglah oilfield near the southern Iraqi port city of Basrawas one of the causes that triggered Iraq's invasion of its neighboring Kuwait in 1990.

Before the 1990 invasion, Iraq had accused Kuwait of over pumping oil from the oilfield, which is located on the border between the two countries.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2003)