LONDON Ñ Iraq is said to have bolstered its air defense network with
additional radar systems and anti-aircraft batteries.
U.S. officials said Iraq has moved anti-aircraft assets to the north
near the Turkish border over the last few weeks. The officials said the new
systems have enabled the Iraqi military to quickly respond to allied air
patrols of the no-fly zone in northern Iraq.
Iraq has stepped up missile fire on U.S. and British warplanes that
patrol the no-fly zone in northern Iraq. U.S. officials said that the rapid
Iraqi response has limited the allied patrols.
"The Iraqi anti-aircraft system doesn't threaten us, but it's getting
better and we don't want to take any chances," a U.S. official said.
The officials said the regime of President Saddam Hussein has pressured
Kurds to allow the military to deploy anti-aircraft batteries in the
northern autonomous zone. The officials said the systems contain radars
linked via fiber optic cable.
The Pentagon has been arguing for a major strike against Iraqi
anti-aircraft batteries as part of an effort to maintain United Nations
sanctions on Baghdad. The sanctions would include the maintenance of no-fly
zones in both northern and southern Iraq.
Iraq is believed to have at least 25 SA-3 and 10 SA-6 surface-to-air
missile batteries. Many of the batteries were connected to long-range radar
via fiber-optic cable.
In Baghdad, Saddam met the commander of the Iraqi air defense unit, Lt.
Gen. Hamed Reda. The official Iraqi news agency said Sunday's meeting was
the latest of a series of sessions to prepare for any U.S. military attack
on Iraq. The agency said Saddam praised what he termed was the effort to
improve air defense and air force capabilities.