We report results of wave-packet calculations of the reaction probabilities for the O(D-1)+HCl(v=0,j,K)--> ClO+H, OH+Cl, reactions, using a recent ab initio potential energy surface [K. A. Peterson, S. Skokov, and J. M. Bowman, J. Chem. Phys. 111, 2445 (1999)]. We find a striking effect of the initial rotation and alignment of HCl on the product branching ratio. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-9606(00)02225-X].