U.S. strikes Iraq anti-aircraft site

WASHINGTON Ñ The United States has resumed attacks on Iraqi anti-aircraft installations.

An Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery site was attacked on late Friday in southern Iraq. U.S. officials said the attack was the first since U.S. and British warplanes struck air defense sites around Baghdad on Feb. 16.

U.S. officials said the Iraqi military was trying to shoot down U.S. and British planes patrolling the no-fly zone in southern Iraq. They said the Pentagon used an air force F-15E fighter-jet for the attack, Middle East Newsline reported. The warplane fired what officials described as precision-guided weapons.

In Baghdad, an Iraqi military spokesman said anti-aircraft units repulsed a U.S. attack and forced warplanes to withdraw from Iraq to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

The U.S. attack took place amid efforts by the Bush administration to win endorsement of a so-called policy of smart sanctions, which would ease civilian exports to Baghdad while intensifying the campaign against smuggling military components to the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

On Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said the new U.S. policy will help Ankara in efforts to revive trade with Baghdad.