US planes involved in clash over Iraq
Tensions flared anew in Iraq today, as US warplanes returned fire on an Iraqi site that the US said fired surface-to-air missiles at planes patrolling the southern Iraqi no-fly zone.
US President Bill Clinton said in a brief statement that the planes took evasive actions after they were fired upon, returned fire, and returned safely to their base. Clinton characterized the pilots' actions as "appropriate" in returning fire.
Clinton said "they (US fighters) attacked because they were attacked" and the US "will continue to enforce the no-fly zones." The northern no-fly zone was set up to protect rebellious Kurds in the North, and another zone in the South was set up to protect rebellious Shiites. CNN TV quoted Iraqi TV as saying that the US attacked first with Iraq replying to the attack, adding that four Iraqis were killed as a result of the US attack.
Clinton describing the US policy said "The no-fly zones have been and will remain an important part of our containment policy. Because we effectively control the skies over much of Iraq, Saddam has been unable to use air power to repress his own people or to lash out again at his neighbors."
After the end of the recent US strikes against Iraq, Iraq indicated that it would fire on US planes over the so-called "no-fly zones" as Iraq never recognized the legality of these zones. Furthermore, Iraq said it would not allow UNSCOM to return to Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iraq's parliament affirmed Baghdad's refusal of the return of UNSCOM inspectors to Iraq to monitor Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. It was a report by UNSCOM that provided the US and Britain the pretext for the attack on Iraq.
A statement issued after a meeting of the national council said that UNSCOM's mission was finished in Iraq when the inspections turned into an espionage mission for hostile countries.
The statement added that Iraq fulfilled its commitments toward the United Nations and that it asked the Security Council to lift the embargo imposed on exports of petroleum as a step toward lifting the sanctions completely.