In an action US officials consider a violation of a UN Security Council resolution, Iraq fired surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns at American and British warplanes patrolling a "no-fly" zone.
Coalition warplanes bombed an Iraqi air defense site in retaliation for Friday's firing, a Pentagon statement said.
It was the first coalition strike on Iraq since President Saddam Hussein's government accepted the Security Council resolution Wednesday that demanded he disarm and allow inspectors to search for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Under the resolution, a material breach must be reported to the Security Council for new debate and could be used as possible justification for US-led military action to remove Saddam's government.
A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the government considers the firing a material breach, but could not say whether or when US officials would raise the issue with the UN.
State Department spokesman Frederick Jones said the US had the option of reporting the Iraqi firing to the Security Council but had not decided whether to do so.
In New York, meanwhile, chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix prepared to set off for Baghdad with a warning to Saddam that the Security Council won't tolerate "cat and mouse" games.
Blix and other inspectors are scheduled to arrive in Iraq on Monday after a four-year absence, and he said actual inspections were expected to begin Nov. 27.
Saddam's government told Iraqis on Friday they must welcome the inspection team.
The George W. Bush administration says it will go to war if Saddam does not comply with the new UN resolution to cooperate in declaring and dismantling Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Saddam accepted the UN resolution on Wednesday but insists Iraq has no chemical, biological and nuclear arms.
"Iraq's acceptance of the resolution is an attempt to save our people from any harm," the state-run Al-Iraq newspaper said Friday. "This is the most important thing."
President George W. Bush and other US officials have said they believe Iraq's firing on coalition planes patrolling the northern and southern no-fly zones would violate the latest UN resolution.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other Pentagon officials, however, have been vague about whether Iraqi hostile actions in the zones would be considered a trigger for a wider US-led attack.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel David Lapan said Iraq fired surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery at coalition planes. The shots came from Iraqi positions near the southern city of An Najaf, said Commander Dan Gage, a spokesman for the US Central Command.
Coalition planes used precision-guided weapons to attack an air defense communications facility near An Najaf about 135km southeast of Baghdad, a Pentagon statement said.
The latest UN Security Council resolution, passed 15-0 on Nov. 8, prohibits Iraq from taking or threatening any hostile action against countries "taking action to uphold any council resolution." The US and Britain say they established the no-fly zones to enforce Security Council resolutions calling on Saddam to end attacks on Kurds in northern Iraq and Shiite Muslims in the south.
* Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix is set to arrive in Iraq Monday.
* Iraq is prohibited from taking or threatening any hostile action against countries "taking action to uphold any council resolution."
* The US considers Iraq's firing at coalition planes a material breach of the resolution.
Source: AP
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
PUBLIC SAFETY: The premier said that security would be tightened in transport hubs, while President Lai commended the public for their bravery The government is to deploy more police, including rapid response units, in crowded public areas to ensure a swift response to any threats, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after a knife attack killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei the previous day. Lai made the remarks following a briefing by the National Police Agency on the progress of the investigation, saying that the attack underscored the importance of cooperation in public security between the central and local governments. The attack unfolded in the early evening on Friday around Taipei Main Station’s M7 exit and later near the Taipei MRT’s Zhongshan
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
RSS