BAGHDAD, March 11 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraq dismissed as "lies" U.S. reports that Iraqi fighters scrambled Tuesday, March 11, while two U2 reconnaissance planes were flying surveillance missions in support of U.N. arms inspections.

"The allegations are false, lies," General Hossam Mohammed Amin, head of Iraq's National Monitoring Directorate which liases with U.N. weapons inspectors, told reporters.

Earlier in the day, a U.S. defence official claimed that Iraqi fighter jets scrambled while two U2s flew surveillance missions as part of inspections over Iraq, forcing U.S. air controllers to call them back, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We had two U2s up flying UNMOVIC (U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission) missions," said the U.S. official.

"The Iraqis put up planes. In the interest of safety, we recalled them."

According to Amin, it was UNMOVIC that recalled the planes "to avoid any incident" following a mistake in procedure on the U.N. body's part that saw two U2s take off when it had been agreed that only one would fly on Tuesday.

An UNMOVIC spokesman confirmed the U2 planes flights had been suspended for "security reasons."

"I can confirm that two U-2 reconnaissance aircrafts operating on behalf of the UNMOVIC operated in Iraqi airspace this morning," said Ewen Buchanan.

"Although Iraq had been notified of a flight time window, they expressed surprise and concern that two flights were operating simultaneously.

"In the interests of safety, UNMOVIC requested the aircraft to withdraw. Further U-2 and (French) Mirage flights are still planned," he said.

Baghdad agreed to the U2 and other surveillance overflights of its territory as part of U.N. disarmament inspections on February 10.

Iraq Halts Al-Samoud Production

In another related development, Iraq stopped the production of Al-Samoud 2 missiles, a U.N. spokesman confirmed Tuesday.

"They have stopped the production" of Al-Samoud 2 missiles, U.N. inspectors' spokesman Hiro Ueki told a press conference.

Ueki said three more Al-Samoud 2 missiles, nine warheads and a launcher were destroyed under U.N. supervision on Tuesday.

He added that the number of U.N. inspectors in Iraq had fallen to 71, from more than 100 at the end of February, but denied the fall was part of evacuation plans ahead of an anticipated U.S.-led war.

"We have not brought down the number of our staff," he said, explaining that many inspectors had left Iraq after the expiry of their three-month contracts and others had since arrived.

"One dozen arrived in Baghdad on Tuesday," he said.

The latest Al-Samoud destructions rose to 55 the number of missiles scrapped since the process was launched on March 1, roughly half the total number which Iraqi officials say was produced.

Twenty-eight combat warheads, two launchers, five engines and components of the guidance and control systems have also been destroyed.

Iraqi officials say the country has produced about 100 Al-Samoud 2 missiles, which U.N. experts said had to be scrapped because they exceeded the range limit of 150 kilometres (93 miles) allowed by relevant U.N. resolutions.

The scrapping of the missiles has been the most tangible sign of Iraq's cooperation with the inspectors probing its alleged weapons of mass destruction programs.