On allegations of Serbian - Iraqi military cooperation
Iraq-UK, Politics, 3/31/1999

A statement by General Sir Charles Guthrie, Chief of the United Kingdom's Defense Staff said that Serbia is "a key military ally for Iraq, eager to try and help meet all Iraq's key military procurement and technical priorities, helping to replace equipment damaged or destroyed during Operation Desert Fox."

"Building up over recent months there has been a continuous two-way flow of military and defence industry delegations discussing primarily Iraqi military requirements. For example, earlier this month a Serbian delegation toured Iraqi air defence sites, no doubt to learn tactics on how to down Allied aircraft. We have seen some of these Iraqi tactics put into practice already over Serbia," the British statement's text said.

However, the US Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon refused to confirm yesterday the Brittish statement on military cooperation between Iraq and Serbia. He said when asked about these allegations, "I can't comment on intelligence. But it certainly would not be surprising if they talked. These are two countries both subject to attack by forces within NATO. They both have primarily Soviet-built or purchased air defense systems. And they are both subject to international embargoes, which limit their ability [to] purchase weapons and spare part, so they might obviously look for ways to work together to complement or supplement each other's systems. "

Previous Stories:
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