WASHINGTON,
December 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Iraqi aircraft on
Monday, December 23, shot down an unmanned U.S. Predator reconnaissance
drone in a “no-fly” zone over southern Iraq, imposed and policed by
U.S. and British aircraft, but not authorized by any U.N. resolutions.
The
incident occurred about 1230 GMT, said Commander Dan Gage, a spokesman
for the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, Agence France-Presse
(AFP) reported.
“Initial
reports are that it was fired on by Iraqi military aircraft,” Gage
said.
Iraqi
aircraft are barred from the “no-fly” zones over northern and
southern parts of the country, which are enforced by U.S. and British
military patrols.
Baghdad
has long opposed the air-exclusion zones set up after the 1990-91 Gulf
War without the sanction of any U.N. resolution.
In
recent weeks, the patrols have resulted in almost daily clashes with
Iraqi air defenses on the ground as the two allies step up enforcement
of the zones ahead of a possible strike against Iraq, but air-to-air
encounters are rare.
At
least two other drones, which fly at relatively low speed, have been
shot down over the “no-fly zones” in the past two years.
Four
of the drones, a ground control station and a satellite link costs 40
million dollars.
Washington
insists Iraqi firing on coalition aircraft would put it in breach of UN
Security Council Resolution 1441, under which arms inspections resumed
in Iraq last month, but has not been able to convince other U.N. members
to agree.
Baghdad
accuses the United States of using the zones as an excuse to wage an
undeclared war against Iraq.
U.S.
Carrier on Way to Mediterranean
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Another U.S.
aircraft carrier on its way to the Middle East
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Meanwhile,
the United States’ most modern aircraft carrier, USS Harry S. Truman,
arrived off the southern French port city of Marseille Monday for a
four-day stopover before heading to the eastern Mediterranean to support
a possible war on Iraq.
The
four-year-old nuclear-powered vessel, which carries 80 aircraft - F-14
and F-18 fighter/bombers and EA-6B electronic jammers - is scheduled to
leave Friday, December 27, harbor authorities said.
According
to U.S. defense officials in Washington, USS Truman is to relieve
another carrier, USS George Washington, which has left the Mediterranean
Sea after a six-month deployment.
USS
Truman’s arrival means that, over the next three weeks, four U.S.
aircraft carriers will be in or close to the Gulf, ready to participate
in threatened attacks on Iraq. Each carrier is accompanied by a
“battle group” - more than a dozen smaller vessels including
submarines, destroyers and minesweepers.
Programmed
Death of Iraqis Protested
A
French peace association, Resister, called for a silent protest in
Marseille on Thursday, December 19, “against the programmed death of
Iraqis.”
It
issued a statement accusing the “well-fed, well-clothed, superiorly
equipped” Americans of preparing to “sow death at a distance by
pushing on buttons.”
