-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="aol://4344:3167.nofly.21051279.600018242">A Look at the 'No-Fly' Zones</A> U.S. Fighter Jets Fire on Iraq Planes By ROBERT BURNS .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (Jan. 5) - Four U.S. fighter jets fired missiles at Iraqi planes today in the ''no-fly'' zone over southern Iraq, a senior U.S. administration official said. It was the first American-Iraqi air-to-air confrontation in more than six years. The U.S. missiles apparently failed to hit the Iraqi planes, although one Iraqi plane was believed to have crashed, apparently after running out of fuel, the official said. The official Iraqi News Agency said Iraqi planes ''confronted and clashed with the aggressive British and American aircraft'' before ''the aggressive aircraft withdrew. All of our air force planes returned to base safely.'' The American planes - two Air Force F-15 strike aircraft and two Navy F-14 fighters - returned safely after the confrontation, the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Navy planes were from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. The incident, which happened at about 2:30 a.m. EST, marked an escalation of tensions between Iraq and the United States and Britain over enforcing the ''no-fly'' zones in northern and southern Iraq. Iraq considers the restrictions illegal and has vowed to defy them. President Clinton has said U.S. and British forces will continue banning Iraqi flights in the restricted zones, arguing that Saddam Hussein's military still represents a threat to minority Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south. David Leavy, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said today, ''The president has made it clear we will enforce the no-fly zones vigorously. The Iraqi violations are at their own peril.'' A senior Pentagon official said the air-to-air altercation was the first in Iraq since Dec. 27, 1992, when a U.S. F-16 shot down an Iraqi MiG-25. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said there were two separate incidents 15 minutes apart, one involving U.S. F-15s and Iraqi MiG-25s, the other U.S. F-14s and MiG-25s. U.S. warplanes fired a total of six missiles during the two incidents. All told, military officials counted eight separate violations of the no-fly zone today involving 13 to 15 Iraqi aircraft. The Iraqi planes turned quickly after being fired upon, Bacon said. ''They escaped without being shot down.'' At a Pentagon briefing, Bacon defended the accuracy of the missiles. ''Air-to-air combat is an extremely engaging and demanding type of war,'' he said, adding there were still several unknowns, including the distance between the aircraft when the missiles were fired. Bacon said there were reports that a MiG crashed because it ran out of gas. ''We believe that to be the case but we do not have certainty on that right now,'' he said. Prior to today, there had been two incidents in the no-fly zones - neither involving air-to-air combat - since the U.S. and British airstrikes of Dec. 16-19. On Dec. 28, U.S. warplanes fired on an Iraqi surface-to-air missile battery in the northern zone after being fired on from the ground. Iraq said four Iraqi soldiers were killed and seven wounded. On Dec. 30, U.S. warplanes hit an anti-aircraft battery in the south. Iraq says a farmer was killed and two other civilians wounded. Saddam announced earlier in a statement read on state-run Iraq television that the no-fly zones imposed on his country have no basis in international law and vowed that Iraq will fight violations of its airspace ''with all its courage and bravery.'' Meantime, the State Department said one of Saddam's sons directed the murder of hundreds of Iraqi dissidents last November in the Shiite region of southern Iraq. Spokesman James P. Rubin said Monday that tensions in the south, a stronghold of anti-Saddam sentiment, rose after the assassinations of two senior Islamic clerics this summer. He said there have been reports of mass arrests throughout the southern region and in the Shiite areas outside Baghdad over the past six weeks - in addition to hundreds of summary executions of dissidents at two prisons. ''The repression reportedly reached a peak in November, with hundreds killed in actions directed personally by Qusai Hussein,'' Rubin said. ''Regime military action against the Shiites is an intrinsic and continuing part of this campaign of repression. Since 1991 the regime has been carrying out the widespread and brutal repression of the Shiite population of southern Iraq.'' Rubin said opposition sources from the Shiite areas reported that seven villages were recently destroyed or turned into military outposts. He added that more than 2,000 civilians who were unable to flee were reportedly taken hostage by regime forces and possibly sent to Baghdad. They were made up largely of the old, the infirm, women and children, he said. AP-NY-01-05-99 1445EST Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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