U.S.
and British planes coming from Turkey made a total of 16 sorties over
north Iraq, provoking a "response from Iraq's anti-aircraft
defenses," he said.
The
U.S. European Command claimed Wednesday, May 1, that coalition
aircraft patrolling the no-fly zone over northern Iraq were fired at
from anti-aircraft artillery sites near the Saddam Dam in northern
Iraq.
"Coalition
aircraft responded to the Iraqi attacks by dropping precision guided
ordnance on elements of the Iraqi integrated air defense system,"
the command said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
According
to the Iraqi spokesman, U.S. and British planes flew 34 sorties over
the southern no-fly zone, drawing anti-aircraft fire that forced them
to "flee Iraqi airspace to their bases in Saudi Arabia and
Kuwait."
Nineveh
province, along with other two provinces in northern Iraq, have been
located inside the northern no-fly zone, set up by the U.S.-led
Western allies after the 1991 Gulf War with the claimed aim of
protecting the Kurds from the persecution of the Iraqi government,
Xinhua News Agency reported.
A
similar air exclusion zone was also established in southern Iraq to
allegedly protect the Shiite Muslims there.
Almost
daily incidents pit Iraq against U.S. and British planes overflying
the two exclusion zones, which were imposed after the 1991 Gulf War
but do not come under any resolution of the U.N. and are not
recognized by Iraq.
The
raids have killed 1,477 Iraqis and injured 1,336.
On
a diplomatic front, talks between Iraq and U.N. Secretary General Kofi
Annan on the possible return of United Nations arms inspectors resumed
Wednesday and adjourned after two sessions lasting a total of about
two hours.
Annan
is due in Thursday Washington for talks on the Israeli-Palestinian
crisis, but his spokesman said discussions would continue with experts
from the 16-man Iraqi delegation.
Annan
has scheduled a third session with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri
and other aides on Friday morning.
Sabri
declined to comment on the progress of the talks as he left the U.N.
building at the end of the afternoon, telling reporters only that
"We are discussing all the issues related to the Iraq-U.N.
relationship."
 |
|
Tareq
Aziz accused the U.N. of double standards, citing Annan’s
decision to disband a fact-finding heading to Jenin after Israel
refused the mission.
|
Before
the first session began at noon, Annan said he hoped to focus on the
return of the arms inspectors - a pre-condition for suspending the
11-year crippling sanctions imposed on Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in
August 1990.
There
was no obvious sign of a breakthrough, however.
In
Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters:
"We're not holding our breath to hear the Iraqis say finally that
they actually do accept to implement these obligations fully."
In
Baghdad, Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz lashed out at the U.N.
Security Council, accusing it of double standards.
When
the council decided to send a fact-finding mission to the Palestinian
refugee camp in Jenin, "Israel said 'No' and stopped this mission
going," Aziz pointed out.
"Israel
is America and America is Israel, and the U.N. secretary general
cannot challenge them," he added.
At
their previous meeting March 7, Sabri gave Annan a list of 19
questions related to the arms inspections, but also on a timetable for
lifting sanctions and on the "no-fly zones" patrolled by
British and U.S. warplanes.
However,
U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan was not in a position to
discuss the no-fly zones, imposed on Iraq without the consent of the
Security Council.
There
have been divisions within the Security Council, in particular among
its five permanent members, concerning the sanctions.
While
the five agree that the arms inspectors must return to complete work
to verify Iraq has dismantled its weapons of mass destruction, they
disagree on the effectiveness of sanctions.
The
Iraqi delegation to Wednesday's talks included Jafaar Dhia Jafaar and
General Amir al-Saadi, advisers to Saddam.
The
U.N. delegation included Hans Blix, chairman of the arms inspectorate,
and the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), Mohammad El-Baradei.
The
IAEA carries out routine checks of Iraq's one declared civilian
nuclear installation.
