U.S. officials are inspecting sites in northern Iraq to review military assets that could be used in any war against the regime of President Saddam Hussein.

Kurdish sources report that a team of representatives from U.S. intelligence agencies are touring the autonomous zone of Kurdistan inspecting airports and other facilities.

The sources said the U.S. team is touring abandoned Iraqi military bases for potential use in the deployment of equipment and the establishment of command centers.

The U.S. delegation is being aided by Turkish military officers, Middle East Newsline reported. Turkey has bolstered its presence in northern Iraq in preparation for any U.S.-led attack on the Saddam regime.

U.S. officials have denied that military personnel have been in northern Iraq. But they acknowledge that the Bush administration has sent envoys to Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq to discuss a range of issues that deal with the future of the region.

The last U.S. delegation was reported in December when State Department envoy Ryan Crocker led a group in talks with Kurdish groups.

On Wednesday, the London-based Al Hayat daily provided details of the current U.S. military mission in northern Iraq. The newspaper, confirmed a previous report that the delegation is composed of seven officers from the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S. military intelligence.

Al Hayat said the U.S. officers toured three airports in northern Iraq to determine whether they can be suitable for the landing of U.S. combat planes. The newspaper said the focus of the mission, which is still in Kurdistan, is the Iraqi-Turkish border.

The United States has been planning a military campaign against the Saddam regime. Western diplomats have said they expect such an attack to begin as early as July.

Print this Article

Email this article

Free Headline Alerts