Israel watching Iraq troop movements toward Jordan border

TEL AVIV — Israel is closely watching the movement of Iraqi troops west toward the border with Jordan.

So far, Israeli officials said, the government of Prime Minister Ehud Barak will not take any action. The officials said Iraq has sent about 250 tanks and 15,000 troops toward the Jordanian border.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz said Israel does not intend to attack the Iraqi armored division. Mofaz said Israel is not interested in turning the incident into a regional conflict.

Military sources said the Republican Guards appear to be heading toward both Kurdistan in the north and rebel Shi'ite areas in the south. The sources said the movement west appears to be a decoy for Saddam's effort to crush Kurdish and Shi'ite separatists.

In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen again warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein against attacking his neighbors amid the current Arab-Israeli tension. Cohen said the United States is prepared to respond to the Iraqi troop movement.

"We follow it very closely and we should forewarn him, as we have, that any move that he would make to attack his neighbors would be met by a very strong response by the United States," Cohen said.

Arab diplomatic sources said Saddam has been emboldened by increasing violations of the United Nations sanctions on Iraq. The sources he has exploited the increasing international support for Iraq by threatening neighboring Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

On Sunday, Iraqi officials said they are considering granting asylum to two Saudi hijackers who commandeered a passenger jet and brought it to Baghdad. Iraqi television broadcast the criticism of the hijackers of the Saudi kingdom.

Saudi officials said the hijackers were members of the security forces in the kingdom. They said Riyad has demanded the extradition of the hijackers. A Saudi prince was aboard the hijacked flight, but he was not harmed.

Passengers of the hijacked plane arrived in London on Monday and were debriefed by British security authorities. Forty of the passengers are British nationals.