NICOSIA Ñ The regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is preparing for the worst.

"We always expect evil and aggression from the American administration," Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan told the Doha-based A-Jazeera satellite television. "Our preparations are always in place. Any nation that has attacked has the right to defend itself by any means. This is a legimate right."

Ramadan did not mention Israel. But when asked whether Iraq would attack Israel, the vice president said Baghdad would not rule out any target.

At the same time, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein met air force chiefs to discuss what the official Iraqi News Agency termed were recent Israeli threats, Middle East Newsline reported. The meeting took place as Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries fired on U.S. and British jets that flew over the northern provinces of Irbil and Dohuk. The provinces are part of the unofficial Kurdish autonomous zone.

An Iraqi military spokesman said the U.S. and British jets conducted 12 sorties. The spokesman said the jets were directed by an airborne early-warning AWACS platform.

Saddam also warned Iraqi Kurds in the autonomous northern zone to return to control by the central government in Baghdad.

"We want our Kurdish people to make their decision without being swayed by whims," Saddam was quoted as saying. "The Kurdish people is part of the Iraqi people and whoever seeks to make a separation must be the one we criticized."

In Washington, U.S. officials said Iraq has become a key monitoring target of the Bush administration. But the officials maintained that the United States has not decided to attack Baghdad.

"We're going after Al Qaida and that network, and we continue to keep our eye on Iraq and watch them very, very closely," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "So that's what we're doing. If anybody wants to know what we're doing, that's what we tell them."

In southern Turkey near the Iraqi border, the United States and its allies intensified military preparations and air patrols. Western diplomatic sources said this included an exercise of air defenses around the Turkish base of Incirlik, used by Britain and the United States for air patrols of northern Iraq.

Several Arab leaders warned against any U.S. attack on Baghdad. On Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shaara said this would be a major mistake by Washington.

But Kuwait has been on alert for an Iraqi military strike. Kuwaiti Defense Minister Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah warned that the sheikdom's military Ñ now engaged in an exercise with the United States Ñ will not be caught unprepared for an Iraqi attack.

U.S. officials said that the administration's focus would be to change the parameters of United Nations on Iraq. They said this would include a review of permitted items for Iraqi imports to ensure that Baghdad does not use dual use items for weapons of mass destruction programs, ballistic missiles and conventional weapons. UN sanctions on Iraq expire on Friday night.

Since June, the United States has sought Security Council approval for a review of goods for Iraqi imports. Russia has been a leading opponent.

"What we are looking for is council agreement on the principle of a goods review list," Boucher said. "We plan to finalize the list details over the next six months. And when implemented, this arrangement would allow purely civilian goods to go to the Iraqi people without review by the Sanctions Committee."

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