The talks were chaired by Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, a former head of the oil cartel Opec.

BBC: Science & Environment

Al-Attiyah, who was leading when disqualified last year, gained over five minutes on Sainz, with BMW driver Guerlain Chicherit taking the stage honors.

CNN: Al-Attiyah closes gap on leader Sainz

Sainz, who won the grueling endurance event in 2010, saw his team Qatari teammate, Nasser al-Attiyah, who was the 2011 champion, take fourth.

CNN: Sainz and Lopez win Dakar Rally opener in Peru

Al-Attiyah felt the longest stage of the race, had been particularly challenging for him and prevented him from further closing the gap on Sainz.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"Maliki will always try to say that what he is doing is trying to defend himself and Iraq from the unintended consequences of Syria, " said Mr. Attiyah.

WSJ: U.S. Prods Iraq to Stop Arms Going to Syria

The former world rally champion now has a five minute 20 second overall advantage on Volkswagen teammate Al-Attiyah following the tough 796km run, of which 476km was a timed special, between San Juan and San Rafael.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

German manufacturer Volkswagen kept hold of the top three spots in the overall rankings with Nasser Al-Attiyah, who finished fourth on Thursday, in second place, 15 minutes and 24 seconds behind Sainz, and Miller in third.

CNN: Peterhansel wins as Sainz extends lead

The president of OPEC, Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah, told the Wall Street Journal that the cartel would not cut production below 24m bpd unless big oil exporters outside OPEC, including Mexico and Norway as well as Russia, were prepared to cut production too.

ECONOMIST: OPEC��s oil shock | The

But to His Excellency Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah , president of the conference and minister of energy and industry of Qatar, who addressed his fellow excellencies, sheikhs and ministers along with the emir of Qatar, the war was a bit of unpleasantness that barely merits mention.

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