Baghdad Says U.S. Warplanes Strike Southern Iraq
" Sunday's raids took place at a time when three U.S. congressmen
were visiting Basra to assess the humanitarian situation in the southern Iraqi city.
They used the airport to travel to and out of Basra.
Democratic Representatives Jim McDermott of Washington,
David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California returned to Baghdad
aboard an Iraqi Airways plane six hours after the reported attack."
Sun Sep 29, 1:02 PM ET
By Hassan Hafidh
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said on Sunday U.S. jets had raided the Basra
civilian airport for the second time in a week, targeting its radar systems and
the passenger terminals.
In Tampa, Florida, U.S. Central Command confirmed
an attack but said it was aimed at a military mobile
radar at Basra "in response to hostile acts."
An Iraqi Transport Ministry spokesman said in a
statement to the official Iraqi News Agency: "Planes
of the American enemy targeted and destroyed for
the second time the civilian radar system of Basra
airport."
The spokesman said the attack on the airport in Basra, 300 miles southeast of
Baghdad, took place on Sunday at 00:45 a.m. (4:45 p.m. EDT on Saturday).
An Iraqi military spokesman said U.S. and British planes on Saturday night
attacked "civilian and service" installations in Qalat Sikur, about 130 miles
southeast of Baghdad.
U.S. Central Command spokesman Major Bill Harrison said two military sites
were targeted.
"In response to Iraqi hostile acts against coalition aircraft monitoring the
southern no-fly zone, Operation Southern Watch coalition aircraft used
precision-guided weapons Saturday to strike a military mobile radar near al
Basra, Iraq, and a surface-to-air missile site near Qalat Sikur, Iraq," Harrison
said.
He said the U.S. military was assessing the damage.
"Coalition strikes in the no-fly zones are executed as a self-defense measure in
response to Iraqi hostile threats and acts against coalition forces and their
aircraft," he said.
U.S. and British jets police two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq set
up after the 1991 Gulf War ( news - web sites).
SECOND ATTACK IN A WEEK
Iraq said on Thursday U.S. jets had raided Basra civilian airport and destroyed
its radar system. The United States said it had hit a military radar at the airport
and the target was far from civilian activity. That attack took place on
Wednesday night.
U.S. F-16 jets also attacked the airport in August.
Sunday's raids took place at a time when three U.S. congressmen were visiting
Basra to assess the humanitarian situation in the southern Iraqi city. They used
the airport to travel to and out of Basra.
Democratic Representatives Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of
Michigan and Mike Thompson of California returned to Baghdad aboard an Iraqi
Airways plane six hours after the reported attack.
In interviews with reporters of Western media who accompanied them, they did
not mention the attack, but a Reuters cameraman said he heard sirens wailing
in Basra at the time given by the Iraqi spokesman for the attack.
"What thing worries me and my colleagues is if we got a war again we would
simply double and triple the (humanitarian) problems we created in 1991,"
McDermott said.
Basra airport occupies a large area in strategic Basra province, home to Iraq's
main port at the head of the Gulf and major oil installations.
The no-fly zones, which Baghdad does not recognize, were imposed to protect
a Kurdish enclave in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south from possible
attacks by the Iraqi government.
Exchanges have increased sharply in recent months with the threat of a
possible U.S. attack on Iraq to remove President Saddam Hussein ( news - web
sites) from power.
Washington accuses Saddam of developing weapons of mass destruction, a
charge Iraq has repeatedly denied.
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