American and British pilots flying patrols over Iraq face new threats from strengthened air defenses, the Pentagon said.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he learned Monday that Iraq had moved more surface-to-air missile batteries into the "no fly" zones enforced by allied fighter pilots. He added these additions were the largest in the past couple of years, although he also noted that Iraq has a history of moving such forces in and out of the zones.
Myers did not say how many missile batteries had been added. He said they were moved in the past several days.
Myers provided few specifics about the latest moves by Saddam to strengthen his defenses in the "no fly" zones, but he said the newly arrived missile batteries were involved in recent confrontations involving U.S. pilots. He said allied pilots in northern Iraq were threatened by Iraqi air defenses three times since April 1.
"In one case, on the 19th, our fighters launched two missiles at a surface-to-air missile system near Mosul," Myers said. "And this particular system had threatened them during their flight."
On April 15 an allied air patrol in southern Iraq "was forced to respond" with a guided bomb strike on a surface-to-air missile system radar, he said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, speaking at the same news conference with Myers, said he was not aware of any "notable difference" recently in Saddam's behavior and the posture of his military.
"He tends to move things around and do things that are inconsistent with the U.N. resolutions, and his rhetoric has historically been provocative and favoring terrorists," Rumsfeld said.
Myers was asked to describe the additional threat posed by the extra surface-to-air missiles in Iraq.
"If they're moved inside the `no-fly' zones, obviously, that increases risks to the pilots that are patrolling in those zones," he said. "And that's what's been happening. And beyond that, I don't want to get into the specifics of exactly where." He added that they were in both the north and south.
Meanwhile, Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party, and Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, also discussed plans for a government that would replace Saddam's regime once the Iraqi leader is ousted, the Iraqi dissidents told The Associated Press.
On Sunday, the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat daily reported that both Barzani and Talabani met officials from the Pentagon, the State Department and the CIA in Germany last week. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
