Iraq Warns Kuwait, Saudi Arabia Over Air Bases

By Hassan Hafidh

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq told Kuwait and Saudi Arabia Sunday to stop letting U.S. and British warplanes use their bases
to patrol the no-fly zone in southern Iraq, and threatened to retaliate if they failed to do so.

``We warn the rulers of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and tell them 'you are now involved in an aggressive war which the peoples
of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have no interest in, but America and Zionism do,''' said a statement issued after a meeting of top
Iraqi officials led by President Saddam Hussein.

``If you are helpless and you have no desire for the aggression, we are able to target sources and means of aggression, and
from anywhere it is launched, after relying on God and the support of our Arab nation,'' the statement said, quoted by Baghdad
television.

``If you are doing that deliberately to kill more Iraqi women, children, men and the elderly and destroy Iraqi property, God is
above you,'' it added.

A U.S. military spokesman in Washington said Iraq ``issues lots of rhetoric, lots of threat'' and the latest warning would not halt
patrols of the southern no-fly zones.

``We are going to continue to patrol the no-fly zone. We are going to protect our interests there,'' the Pentagon spokesman
said.

There were no clashes Sunday, the Pentagon said. Saturday, U.S. military jets attacked two Iraqi defense sites in the southern
no-fly zone, including one that fired on coalition aircraft patrolling the zone. Iraq said the U.S. attack killed three civilians and
wounded many others.

The television said Sunday's meeting was attended by Vice- chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) Izzat
Ibrahim, Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan and member of the RCC Ali Hassan al-Majeed.

The statement followed a series of harsh verbal attacks by Iraq in recent weeks on its neighbors, coupled with demands that
their rulers be removed for allowing the use of their bases by Western aircraft which patrol the skies over southern Iraq.

The zones, set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect southern Iraq's Shi'ite Muslims from possible attacks by Baghdad, have
recently seen attacks on Iraq's air defenses when they targeted U.S. and British fighter jet patrols.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz Sunday visited NATO member Turkey to try to persuade it to stop western aircraft
using Turkish bases to patrol a no-fly zone in northern Iraq, set up to protect Iraqi Kurdish enclave.

Arab League Drafts Plan to End Iraq Embargo

CAIRO (AFP) -- The Arab League has drafted a plan to work with China, France, and Russia to end the embargo against Iraq, a League official said here Saturday.

"The Arab League has adopted a plan of action on Iraq that will be reviewed by the ministerial follow-up committee at its meeting set to take place soon in Damascus under the chairmanship of Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq Al Shara," said the official who asked not to be named.

He said the plan centers on "serious" cooperation with China, France, and Russia, the three permanent members of the UN Security Council which are opposed to maintaining the sanctions against Baghdad.

The proposal focuses on "the Arab world's total opposition to any attack on Iraq's territorial integrity and any interference in its internal affairs," the official said, adding that it will also call on Baghdad to "prove its good
intentions toward Kuwait."

Iraq has been under UN sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait that led to the Gulf War. Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said Al Sahhaf accused Arab countries of "plotting" against Iraq after storming out of a meeting of League foreign ministers last month that failed to meet Baghdad's call for a unilateral lifting of UN sanctions.

The ministers further angered Baghdad by demanding an Iraqi apology for invading Kuwait, and saying Iraq should "immediately stop provoking its neighbors."

Their statement urged Iraq "to take the necessary steps to prove its peaceful intentions towards Kuwait and other neighbors by admitting that the Kuwaiti invasion was an error that violates the Arab League charter."

United Nations report: US killed 17 Iraqi women and children in January raid

By David Walsh 6 February 1999

A United Nations report, obtained by the Associated Press Thursday, reveals that US missiles killed 17 people, all women and children, in two communities in southern Iraq during an air attack January 25. Forty-five houses were destroyed or damaged by the missiles that struck the al-Jumhuriya neighborhood in Basra and the village of Abu Khasib, 16 miles further south. The UN findings confirm the claims made by the Iraqi government following the attack.

The report was filed by Hans von Sponeck, UN humanitarian coordinator in Baghdad, after an on-the-spot investigation. Von Sponeck spoke to local government officials and relief agencies. According to the investigating team, despite some demonstrations against the US during its visit, "The human climate was one of sadness rather than aggressiveness."

Al-Jumhuriya is a poor neighborhood, with garbage-strewn streets. When the missile struck, most of the men were away. The US missile killed one woman and five children. Iraqi officials told von Sponeck that 64 people were injured and 30 still hospitalized. The UN report noted, "The UN team visiting the area verified that seven houses had been completely destroyed
and a further 27 houses sustained damage. The damage was caused by both
direct impact and the blast effect of the missile." In Abu Khasib, a village of some 400 houses, five women and five children died and 30 people were injured.

US air crews began using the missile that killed the Iraqis, the AGM-130, only in January. The weapon carries 2,000 pounds of explosives and is directed to its target after launch by a pilot watching the missile's path on a video screen.

The Pentagon acknowledged January 26 that a missile exploded in a residential area. The spokesman who made the announcement blamed Saddam Hussein's forces for the civilian deaths. "We regret any civilian
casualties but this [the firing of US missiles] was done in response to a provocative attack against our planes by Saddam Hussein." The spokesman neglected to mention that the planes targeted in this "provocative attack" were flying in Iraqi air space, in the so-called no-fly zones established by the US after the Persian Gulf war.

The January 25 air attack was part of an escalating campaign of aggression by US and British forces against Iraq. Since December's bombing campaign US and British planes have carried out 40 hits on Iraqi air defense sites, a greater number than were hit during the four-day assault. The US military is  apparently expanding the scope of its attacks beyond what it terms
self-defense. On Tuesday it struck three Iraqi anti-ship missile launchers near the gulf.

Butler Indicates He'll Leave UNSCOM ..."Thank God"

By John M. Goshko Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, February 5, 1999; Page A29

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 4—Richard Butler, the embattled chief of the U.N. inspectors whose efforts to find and eliminate Iraq's prohibited weapons have been paralyzed for months, indicated today that he expects to leave his post when his three-year appointment ends in June.

"I quite frankly don't think I'll be seeking an extension," Butler said in an interview with CNN. It was the strongest statement yet of his intentions, although he has hinted in recent news media interviews in his native Australia that he would quit as executive chairman of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM).

Butler's impending departure has been widely expected among United Nations diplomats who have suggested that the controversy surrounding his tenure makes it virtually impossible for him to continue running UNSCOM effectively. The controversy reached new heights last month as the result of leaks to the media alleging that Butler allowed the United States to use UNSCOM to gather intelligence to be employed against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

UNSCOM was created by the Security Council following the 1991 Persian Gulf War to track down Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. The commission's inspectors have been out of Iraq since just before the December air and missile strikes by the United States and Britain. Iraq has vowed that they never will be allowed to return as long as Butler is at their head, and some Security Council members, led by Russia, have demanded that he be fired.

The United States, Butler's strongest supporter on the council, has continued to back him and praise his work. But it is widely assumed at the United Nations that Washington realizes he has become too divisive a figure to continue and expects him to step aside as part of efforts to bring the badly divided council into a new consensus on how to deal with Iraq.

Butler, an Australian diplomat who previously was his country's U.N. ambassador, has been a lightning rod for controversy since he joined UNSCOM in 1996. From the outset, he has charged Iraq with frequent failure to cooperate with UNSCOM inspections and attempts to hide vital information about its missiles and chemical and biological warfare programs.

His insistence on pursuing leads through aggressive and intrusive inspections was enthusiastically supported by the United States. But it also led to several confrontations between Iraq and the United Nations when Baghdad blocked UNSCOM personnel from working and sought to force them out of the country.

Some of these standoffs caused the United States to brandish the threat of military force that finally culminated in the December raids. They also led some countries sympathetic to Iraqi protests -- notably Russia, China and France -- to charge Butler with bias and insensitivity to Iraqi concerns.

Butler has rejected the criticism of UNSCOM as unjustified and has denied that the commission served as a cover for any improper intelligence gathering. In the CNN interview, he said UNSCOM "has done our job [and] done it well. But he added: "I expect I'll move on."

UN Won't Let Americans And Britons Work In Iraq

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations said Wednesday it would no longer allow
Americans and Britons to work in its humanitarian program in Iraq after Baghdad failed to assure their
safety.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Undersecretary-General Benon Sevan, in charge of security,
decided that ``all United States and United Kingdom nationals working for the United Nations in Iraq
should leave the country.''

In practice, the order affects two American staff members in Baghdad. But U.N. officials said 13 Britons and one American
had left since Iraq in early January ordered them out.

On Jan. 5, the United Nations rejected Iraq's directive, insisting it alone would decide on the composition of the staff. Iraq had
said it feared for the safety of the Americans and Britons because of ``deep popular anger'' after the mid-December
U.S.-British airstrikes.

Iraq had made an exception for those working in senior posts in Baghdad. But Eckhard said the two Americans remaining in
the Iraqi capital would also leave because Sevan did not think any employees should be singled out.

They are the secretary to Prakash Shah, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy in Iraq, and the deputy director of the
World Food Program.

John Mills, a spokesman for Sevan, would not give details on how the 14 others left the country, whether they were asked to
do so by the United Nations or did not have their visas renewed.

In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin said: ''For some weeks now there has been a discussion of the fact
that Iraq has indicated it was unwilling to ensure the security of U.S. and UK nationals participating in U.N. humanitarian and
other operations in Iraq.''

He told a news briefing that evolved over time and is ``not some new problem that has generated a new decision by Iraq.''

U.N. legal counsel Hans Corell in a letter to Iraq said it was Baghdad's responsibility under its agreements with the United
Nations to protect all U.N. staff. Eckhard said no reply had been received, prompting Sevan's decision.

The United Nations has about 420 humanitarian staff running the ``oil-for-food'' program in Iraq, including the three northern
Kurdish provinces not directly under Baghdad's control.

The program permits Iraq to sell up to $5.256 billion worth of oil every six months to buy basic goods for ordinary Iraqis living
under 8-year-old U.N. sanctions.

Of the 14 people on Iraq's original list, all but two work in the Kurdish-dominated north, where the United Nations had
complete control of the oil-for-food program.

Five Britons worked on clearing mines in the north, a program that Iraq dislikes.

Two on the list were British employees of the Dutch Saybolt firm, which monitors the flow of oil to Turkey and through Iraq's
Gulf port. Saybolt has at least 14 staff in Iraq under contract to the United Nations.

Mills said the Britons were on short-term contracts and had already been rotated out.

State Department spokesman Rubin also reacted to media reports that Iraq had welcomed the removal of Richard Butler, the
controversial head of the U.N. Special Commission charged with destroying Baghdad's weapons of mass destruction.

``This is the Iraqis welcoming something that hasn't happened,'' the spokesman said.

He noted that Butler remained chairman of UNSCOM and still had the support of the United States for doing ``a fine job.''

But Rubin acknowledged that because of Iraqi opposition, UNSCOM was no longer able to carry out its weapons inspection
and destruction work in Iraq.

Iraq slams "unbalanced" Arab League talks

CAIRO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Iraq's Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Sunday was biased against his country and could give the United States and Britain cause for renewed air strikes.

``There were unbalanced ideas and it was clear to us that there was U.S. pressure on the meeting, which led to a negative effect,'' he told reporters. ``We cannot accept such a meeting which again conspired against Iraq and gave the U.S. and Britain the pretext for another attack.''

Iraq Walks Out Of Arab Talks In Protest

By Miral Fahmy

CAIRO (Reuters) - Iraq walked out of an Arab League foreign ministers meeting in Cairo Sunday to protest against what it called a biased final statement which could give the United States and Britain a pretext to launch more air strikes.

``There were unbalanced ideas and it was clear to us that there was U.S. pressure on the meeting, which led to a negative effect,'' Iraq's Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf told reporters after his delegation walked out.

``We cannot accept such a meeting which again conspired against Iraq and gave the U.S. and Britain the pretext for another
attack.''

Arab foreign ministers had met for about seven hours Sunday to try to ease U.N. sanctions on Iraq and respond to U.S.-led air
strikes against Iraq last month, launched following Baghdad's alleged failure to cooperate with U.N. arms inspections.

Sahaf said the meeting was long because ``we were promised before coming here that the final statement would be positive and
support Iraq. Unfortunately this was not the case.''

``Unfortunately the Hurghada group, especially Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, tried to sabotage the meeting and use unobjective
methods to draft a communique that, rather than condemning the aggression against Iraq and supporting us, they blamed us,''
Sahaf said.

Foreign Ministers from Egypt, Oman, and Yemen met in Hurghada, Egypt earlier this month with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to
prepare for the Arab League meeting, which Iraq had wanted to condemn U.S-led air strikes against it in December.

``It (the final statement) included points appearing to aid Iraq but which were meaningless, such as expressing discontent about
the use of military force and creating a contact group to lobby at the Security Council to lift the embargo. But this group does
not include Iraq but its enemies,'' Sahaf said.

Arab foreign ministers debated a draft that would insist Iraq recognize Kuwait and comply with U.N. resolutions as a prelude
to any sanctions relief, Arab League sources said.

They said the draft called on Baghdad to recognize Kuwaiti borders and resolve the issue of Kuwaitis considered prisoners of
war or missing since Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. It said Iraq must vow not to threaten its neighbors, especially Kuwait.

The final statement was not immediately made public but one source paraphrased a line in the final statement as saying:
``Iraq recognized that it had made a mistake over Kuwait. This came after Iraq refused to apologize for what it did.''

Arab League sources said the final statement expressed ''sorrow'' at U.S.-led air strikes against Baghdad. They said the
statement called for diplomatic solutions to the problems between Iraq and the United Nations and for sanctions imposed on
Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait to be lifted.

It ``invited'' Iraq and the United Nations to keep working together to resolve their dispute over the arms inspections and called
on Baghdad to implement U.N. resolutions essential to getting the sanctions lifted.

Kuwait has said it wants Iraq to apologize for the 1990 invasion that prompted the United Nations trade embargo and led to
the 1991 Gulf War. It has said some 600 of its citizens remain missing since the invasion.

Iraq wanted the 22-member Arab League to condemn the U.S-British air strikes, launched after U.N. arms inspectors
reported that Baghdad was failing to cooperate with them.

The air strikes prompted street protests in several Arab countries and Iraq criticised Arab leaders for failing to condemn the
raids as forthrightly as their citizens.

The Arab League talks were due to have taken place after the raids, but were postponed amid wrangling over the Iraq issue.

Saudi Arabia has suggested pressing Iraq to show remorse for invading Kuwait and to agree to abide by all Security Council
resolutions in return for Arab efforts to lift trade sanctions.

UN: Iraqi Checks To Be Independent

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press Writer

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The head of the U.N. nuclear agency suggested Friday that any inspection of Iraq's weapons capabilities be carried out by an organization independent of the Security Council.

The suggestion by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei was an unusual, albeit indirect diplomatic jab at the U.N. Special Commission, which has worked with the IAEA for the past seven years to disarm Iraq.

Unlike the IAEA, which is a U.N. agency based in Vienna, the Special Commission is a New York-based subsidiary organ of the council. It has come under fire for being too politically motivated, and for having allowed itself to be used for spying by the United States.

In an informal, personal paper, ElBaradei alludes to the espionage allegations which surfaced in the media this month, saying that any information acquired by inspectors or arms monitors from U.N. member states should flow in one direction only.
The inspectors cannot ``reciprocate and become part of a web of intelligence agencies,'' he wrote.  The paper was circulated among Security Council members who convened Friday to discuss several proposals on how to resume oversight of Iraq's weapons programs while trying to improve the humanitarian situation of Iraqis who have been living under U.N. sanctions for 81/2 years.

Under U.N. resolutions, the oil embargo cannot be lifted until U.N. arms inspectors report Iraq is free of its weapons of mass destruction. Inspections have been halted since the December U.S.-British airstrikes.

Several initiatives to resume U.N. oversight are on the table - from France, Russia, the United States and Canada - but the one which appears to have garnered the most support to date is the French.

France suggests lifting the oil embargo entirely, but with controls to make sure the proceeds aren't
used to buy and rebuild banned weapons.

The initiative calls for the creation of a long-term monitoring system designed to prevent Baghdad from acquiring such weapons rather than continue the retrospective work of trying to root out what arms Iraq may still have.

China, Russia, Gabon and Malaysia have expressed support for the proposal, and even Britain on
Friday said it was ``extremely interested'' in discussing the French ideas.

``We don't agree with all of them as they stand - I don't think anybody does - because lots of
things have to be filled in,'' Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said.

The IAEA proposal says that any verification operation on Iraq should have ``incentives for
compliance and means to counter non-compliance.''

``Sanctions are imposed as a penalty, and the lifting or easing of these sanctions should be used as
an incentive for subsequent compliance,'' ElBaradei wrote.

A main topic of discussion during Friday's consultation was a Canadian procedural suggestion to
convene two meetings - one on disarmament and one on the humanitarian situation in Iraq - to
assess how the council might move forward.

Argentina recommended that the council president - currently Brazil - arrange for such a
disarmament assement.

The Argentine proposal, which was contained in a diplomat's document and named the Brazilian proposal, said the embargo could be lifted after Baghdad had demonstrated cooperation with an ``intrusive'' monitoring system.

It calls for tighter border checks and control on items that may be used for military purposes, and
calls for financial controls on proceeds from oil sales.

Iraqi children and Dennis Halliday are winners of Morocco north-south cooperation prize
Regional, People, 1/16/99

Morocco's 1999 north-south cooperation prize was awarded to the Iraqi children and to Dennis Halliday, former coordinator of the United Nations Humanitarian effort in Iraq.
Organizers said the prize awarded to the Iraqi children symbolizes the sympathy of the world with 500,000 dead Iraqi children.

The prize was set up in 1991 by Moroccan intellectual Medhi El Mandjra following the publication of his book "The First Civilizational War." The recipients are announced on January 17, the date when the US-led alliance against Iraq started raiding Iraq in 1991.
UN's Dennis Halliday for has part has been an outspoken critic of the policy pursued by the US against Iraq for what he characterized as the severe damage it has done to the country at every level of social development.

Do I need to say anything about this picture..! 

Who, shouldn't have weapons of mass destruction?

Please e-mail your remarks about this, I would like to post some of the Iraqi, American or both Governments opinions on this offensive, sad and ignorant picture.  Let the world hear what you think about this.

UNESCO calls for building 400 schools in Iraq, after 400 missile strikes
Iraq, Politics, 12/24/98

Director General of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, proposed Wednesday the construction of 400 schools in Iraq after the 400 missile strikes by the USA and Britain.
"If we were able to send 400 missiles, let's build 400 schools now. Let's replace war with education, bombs with books and missiles with schoolteachers. Otherwise, we will produce evidence once again that we are a society ready for war but not for peace," Mayor told a Spanish local radio station.

For the UNESCO chief, Iraq's failure to give the UN mission free access is no reason for expensive military operations. He added that the UN Security Council should be respected, stressing that military actions will not help settle the problem.

He further deplored that sanctions never affect presidents nor authorities. They only affect societies, mainly children and women, he said.

Baghdad asks UNESCO to preserve Abbasid palace
damaged by strikes
Iraq, Culture, 12/24/98

An official at the UN announced that the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization is "studying an Iraqi appeal to preserve an Abbasid palace which underwent damages as a result of the US - British air raids against Iraq.
A missile was fired near the palace, which is located in the heart of Baghdad on the bank of Tigris river. It dates back to the era of Khaleifa al-Nasser Eddine Allah (1179-1225 A.D.).
Several days earlier, the Iraqi education minister said that Iraq has appealed to UNESCO and other cultural organizations to condemn the bombardment of the Abbasid palace and work for preserving it.

The palace's curator told the Iraqi daily al-Thawra (revolution) that the missile "caused cracks in the body of the palace, especially because it is located on the bank of the river, whereas its outer door, front and exhibits were broken."
History books said this place was burnt during the era of the Mongol leader Hulaco (1217 - 1265), who controlled Persia and Mesopotamia, conquered Baghdad in 1258 and assassinated al-Khaleifa al-Mutassim Be Allah before he was killed by the Memlukes in Syria.

U.S. Jets Fire At Iraqi Warplanes In New Incident

By Charles Aldinger

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. fighter jets fired missiles at Iraqi warplanes over southern Iraq Tuesday in the third military
confrontation in eight days, but apparently no Iraqi jets were hit, the Pentagon said.

One Iraqi jet may have gone down while fleeing from the no-fly zone over southern Iraq, where the incident occurred. But U.S.
defense officials said it apparently ran out of fuel.

``Missiles were fired at several Iraqi aircraft. One of them apparently went down, but there is no evidence that it was hit,'' said
one official at the Pentagon, who asked not to be identified.

The daylight incident, which followed two exchanges by U.S. and British warplanes with missile batteries in no-fly zones in
northern and southern Iraq last week, involved U.S. F-14s from the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and F-15s based in the region,
according to the Pentagon.

One official told Reuters that at least four missiles were fired by the U.S. jets after more than a dozen Iraqi MiGs and Mirages
violated the southern no-fly zone. He said the Iraqi jets were flying at different altitudes in a possible attempt to lure U.S.
aircraft into a vulnerable position.

Maj. Joe LaMarca, a spokesman for the military's Central Command in Tampa, Florida, said all U.S. jets returned safely to
their bases. The Central Command oversees American military operations in the Gulf.

There was no sign from U.S. officials that British planes, which also patrol the no-fly zones, were involved in Tuesday's
incident.

The Pentagon official who did not want to be identified said the incident occurred at about 2:15 a.m. EST (0715 GMT), or
about 10:15 a.m. local time in Iraq.

It followed four days of intense cruise missile and bombing attacks on Iraq last month after Iraq refused to cooperate with U.N.
weapons inspections.

Iraq's President Saddam Hussein has since said that Baghdad will no longer recognize the no-fly zones in northern and southern
Iraq, set up after the 1991 Gulf War to protect Kurds in the North and Shi'ites in the South from attack by Iraqi forces.

The southern no-fly zone stretches from the border line with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan to the 33rd parallel just south of
Baghdad. The northern no-fly zone is above the 36th parallel.

Last Wednesday, U.S. planes attacked Iraqi targets in the southern no-fly zone after Baghdad fired missiles at British and U.S.
aircraft monitoring the zone.

There was a similar clash in the northern exclusion area two days before when U.S. warplanes from Incirlik, Turkey

attacked an Iraqi anti-aircraft site after it launched missiles at the jets.

Iraq said last Thursday it would continue to attack coalition planes in the exclusion zones and insisted again its forces had shot
down an American or British plane the previous day.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz, in comments in newspapers, said confrontation with the United States and Britain
would continue.

Iraq Tells UN To Send Home Americans, Britons

By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraq officially told the United Nations Monday to replace its American and British staff in the
country, citing anger from citizens after last month's U.S.-British bombing raids.

In a one-page memorandum, Baghdad said it could not guarantee the safety of personnel from those two nations and therefore
the United Nations should make other arrangements.

Diplomats told Reuters last Thursday that Iraqi Foreign Ministry officials had spoken to the United Nations about sending home
14 staff members -- one American and 13 Britons. But U.N. officials had said they were still negotiating and Iraq had not put
its request in writing.

However, the new Iraqi memorandum sent to the United Nations cited ``popular anger'' about the U.S.-British bombing raids
from December 16-19.

``We have accordingly requested that the personnel in question be replaced in view of prevailing circumstances arising out of
the Anglo-American aggression and our concern to fulfill our undertakings,'' the memorandum said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman James Rubin said he understood the denial of some visas was ``only a temporary
measure'' and that the numbers involved were small.

He said Iraq's U.N. envoy had told U.N. officials orally that no one was going to be expelled permanently. ``It seems that it
may have little or no impact.''

But he said that ``any Iraqi efforts that selectively exclude some nationalities of the U.N. humanitarian program would
contravene the U.N.'s worldwide policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of nationality.''

The United Nations has some 420 humanitarian staff in Iraq, including the three northern Kurdish provinces not directly under
Baghdad's control.

The U.N. staff administers the ``oil-for-food'' program that permits Iraq to sell up to $5.256 billion worth of oil every six
months to buy basic humanitarian goods for ordinary Iraqis living under 8-year-old U.N. sanctions.

Iraq, in the note to the United Nations, pointed out that it was not asking some 50 Britons in the Lloyd's Register company
under contract to the United Nations to leave because these monitors were not in major cities but in border areas.

Lloyd's checks humanitarian goods coming into the country. Without their certification, suppliers would not be paid and the
complicated program would collapse.

Of the 14 people, four Britons work for outside contractors while some others are involved in mine-clearing programs with the
United Nations. Iraq, in its talks with the United Nations, exempted two senior people and a secretary from its decision,
according to diplomats in Baghdad.

Diplomats said mine-clearing activities in the north were particularly upsetting to the Baghdad government which is seeking to
populate the area with non-Kurdish Iraqi citizens.

One Western envoy said mine-clearing near villages would encourage the resettlement of Kurdish refugees, who had been
displaced. Iraq last week complained about a Norwegian mine-clearing group, saying it was undertaking activities without
permission of the central government.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to discuss the controversy this week. ``Iraq's concern about their safety is nothing but a
pretext to get them out on nationality grounds,'' one council envoy said.

Since the bombing raids, Baghdad has refused to allow any further U.N. arms inspections of its weapons of mass destruction
until the sanctions are lifted.

It has periodically threatened to end the oil-for-food program, which it views as another method of maintaining the punishing
sanctions. But its relations with the U.N. humanitarian staff have generally been cordial compared to heated arguments with
arms inspectors, now out of the country.

Iraq Pumps Oil Despite Bombings

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Iraqi oil exports surged last week, primarily because the four-day U.S. and British bombing
campaign cut domestic demand for crude, U.N. figures showed Monday.

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization continued to export oil through the attack, reaching 2.5 million barrels a day, the figures
showed. Exports have recently averaged between 1.6 million and 1.8 million barrels a day.

Iraq closed all refineries during the bombing, cutting domestic consumption and prompting Baghdad to hike exports to a level
close to its estimated production capacity.

Iraq is barred from freely selling oil on the open market because of sanctions imposed after Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait.

Iraq is allowed to export up to $5.3 billion worth of oil over 180 days under the U.N. ``oil-for-food'' program. Proceeds are
used primarily for food, medical supplies and to compensate Gulf War victims.

The United States and Britain launched a four-day missile campaign Dec. 16 because of Iraq's alleged obstruction of U.N.
weapons inspectors. The inspectors must certify Iraq has destroyed its weapons of mass destruction before the oil embargo is
lifted.

Iraq Says Probably Shot Down Western Plane

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq said Monday its air defenses had probably shot down a Western military aircraft and a search
was under way to locate the wreckage of the plane and its pilot.

``Iraq air defenses have most probably shot down a hostile Western plane and a search for the wreckage of the plane and its
pilot is going on,'' an Iraqi military spokesman said, quoted by the official Iraqi News Agency INA.

The spokesman declined to say where the Western plane had probably come down.

He said that the United States had probably not announced the shooting down of the plane ``in order to provide its pilot an
opportunity to infiltrate if he is alive or to give its agents an opportunity to bring back his body if he is dead.''

A Defense Department spokesman said of Western aircraft that had been patrolling a no-fly zone in northern Iraq earlier in the
day, ``all coalition aircraft returned without any damage or injuries.''

In London, a defense ministry spokesman said that ``all allied aircraft are accounted for.''

Earlier in the day, Baghdad said it had fired at Western aircraft coming from Turkey and that four Iraqi soldiers had been killed
and seven injured when the planes fired missiles at its air defense positions.

U.S. officials confirmed the clash, saying Iraq had launched missiles at Western warplanes patrolling a no-fly zone over the
north of the country and that the pilots had fired back.

An Iraqi military spokesman said in a statement handed to reporters: ``Many hostile formations violated Iraqi airspace, coming
from Turkey at 10:25 a.m. (0725 GMT) and approached our air defenses which bravely and capably intercepted and forced
(the planes) to flee, returning to the bases of evil and aggression.''

``The killers returned at 13:37 to violate our airspace, whereby other formations of hostile aircraft approached... positions of
our air defense in the same region and fired their criminal missiles toward one of our positions...Our air defenses forced them to
flee,'' it added.

``These aggressive acts led to the martyrdom of four of our brave fighters and seven others were injured,'' he added. The
spokesman did not give the location of the incidents.

In London, the defense ministry spokesman said that no British aircraft had been involved in the incidents.

In Turkey, a U.S. official said Iraq had unleashed missiles at warplanes from a joint U.S.-British air force that has patrolled the
no-fly zone over northern Iraq since 1991 to prevent possible attacks by Baghdad against its Kurdish enclave there.

``We understand that today Iraq has violated the no-fly zone and fired missiles at coalition aircraft participating in operation
Northern Watch,'' he said.

``We also understand that the coalition aircraft defended themselves by firing back at the site from which the missiles were
launched,'' the official said.

Northern Watch flies out of Turkey's Incirlik air base. Western planes also enforce a no-fly zone in southern Iraq, flying out of
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A decade ago, Iman Mohammed was a new schoolteacher who earned the
equivalent of $400 a month and spent a fair amount of it keeping herself smartly dressed and
pretty in the hope of attracting the best possible husband.

Today Ms. Mohammed still teaches fifth-graders, but inflation has reduced the value of her monthly
salary to just $2. She lives at home with her widowed mother and five brothers and sisters, and has all
but given up hope of starting a family of her own.

"My two brothers support the family, but they have no money to get married," she said during a break
between classes on Thursday. "Other young men are in the same situation. I am ready to marry
anyone who asks, but who can do it in these conditions?"

Depressed, unable to contribute substantially to her family and facing the prospect of living her life
without a husband, Ms. Mohammed, 36, is typical of her generation of Iraqi women. Although eight
years of economic sanctions on Iraq have devastated the entire society, women have suffered most
acutely.

"The sanctions have changed many things for women," Ms. Mohammed said. "There is no work, so
men do not get married. Women can barely afford food or medicine, and the idea of having anything
nice is just a dream. When I was young, I was middle class and happy. Now my adulthood is being
denied to me.

"Boys and men can adjust more easily to this situation. They can go everywhere they like. They can
have jobs, even if they are bad ones. We are much more limited. We can't even go out for a picnic. It
causes us great psychological problems."

Millions of Iraqi women like Ms. Mohammed work in public jobs, and nearly all earn about what she
earns. They avoid starvation largely because of monthly food rations supplied by the United Nations
and paid for with money the government is allowed to earn by selling oil. The sanctions, imposed by the
United Nations in an effort to persuade President Saddam Hussein to curb his weapons program and
ease his harsh regime, forbid almost all foreign trade and have reduced the Iraqi economy to ruins.

Women like Ms. Mohammed do not work mainly for income, like people in the rest of the world.
Without jobs they would have no alternative but to sit at home, so they work to occupy their minds and
maintain contact with the outside world.

There are no reliable statistics about marriage rates here, but anecdotal evidence suggests that they
have plummeted. One Iraqi newspaper recently estimated that 70 percent of Iraqis between the ages
of 18 and 40 are unmarried. In interviews this week, women of all social classes said they knew of
almost no young people who have married in the last eight years or are preparing to marry. It is a
phenomenon that could have widespread social effects.

"In this country, marriage takes a woman out of her home and gives her independence," said a
24-year-old graduate student who asked to be identified only by her first name, Nebras. "Single women
must follow very strict rules. It is impossible to have a boyfriend. Living alone is out of the question.
The only way to have a real life and become a real person is to marry. Nowadays we can't do that,
because sanctions have made it impossible for men to earn enough to support a family. It is a very
difficult situation for us."

Nebras is highly intelligent and vivacious and comes from a well-to-do background. Women with fewer
assets face different and perhaps even more daunting challenges.

Before the sanctions were imposed eight years ago, after Iraq invaded Kuwait, Widad Abdul-Latif was
busy from morning to night caring for her two sons and seven daughters. Her husband earned a good
living as a tailor, and her sons ran a grocery store.

Soon after the sanctions took effect, her husband's business collapsed along with that of virtually every
other tailor in the country, since people found themselves without money for new clothes. Later the
grocery store failed for similar reasons. Ms. Abdul-Latif, now 58, began putting in 11-hour days selling
falafel sandwiches on a street corner.

"It is shameful for women to do work like this, but I have no choice," she said. "My sons do
construction work when they can find it, but without the few pennies I bring home, we could not
survive. My daughters stay at home all day. They will never marry, not as long as the embargo
continues. Men cannot afford to marry. As for women, what can we say? Nothing. We can only keep
silent."
Aziz: They killed UNSCOM   Audio by Tariq Aziz

The Russian ambassador in Cairo, Vladimir Godiev, announced that Egypt and Russia agreed during consultations that took place between the two countries' foreign ministers in the last few days on ending the Iraqi crisis.

They stressed the importance of reconsidering of the work style of UNSCOM, the UN organization in charge of Iraq's disarmament from weapons of mass destruction, and linking the supervision operations in the future with a timetable for
lifting the sanctions from Iraq.

Godiev called for removing United Nations' chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler and for UNSCOM adjusting its
work style to perform its mission without politics. Russia strongly condemned Richard Butler for his most recent report
to the UN that the US said was proof of Iraqi non-compliance and the reason for the recent military strikes against Iraq.

United Arab Emirates Defense Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum said that Butler's return has become
impossible, stating that the missiles launched at Iraq and its people destroyed the Iraqis' trust in UNSCOM, making it
impossible for Butler to return to Iraq.

But Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz today was plain as he said that the US and the UK "killed UNSCOM" by their
strikes putting an end to the fate of this organization. He said they killed 62 Iraqi soldiers and wounded 180 by their "4 days
of intensive bombings" with advanced missiles.

Aziz said about the future that "we shall never accept any conditions made by Clinton or by Blair, " adding that they
acted according to the law of the jungle. Aziz said that the attack reminded him of the statement of Former Secretary of
State James Baker who told him in 1991 "we will bring you back to the preindustrial age" referring to the bombing of the
Iraqi industrial sites.

Aziz said that all the sites struck had been under UNSCOM monitoring and "had been inspected by them hundreds of
times."

The presence of UNSCOM had been one of the main policy foundations of containing Iraq according to US National
Security Advisor Sandy Berger. There is early evidence that the lack of UNSCOM's return will force a reevaluation by the
US on how to contain Iraq in light of these new developments.

Iraq on alert for further attacks

Damage in Qorna, a city south of Baghdad

As the UN Security Council met behind closed doors to discuss the aftermath of the air strikes on Iraq, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said his country remained on high alert for a further onslaught.


At a news conference in Baghdad, he accused the British and American governments of breaking international law with "criminal aggression", and said he believed the US and UK might relaunch air strikes after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

And with the international community seriously divided on policy towards Iraq, he said the inspection process had ended when London and Washington began the air strikes   "The moment America and Britain launched missiles against Iraq they killed Unscom," he said


He also gave the first details of military casualties from the American-led strikes, saying 62 military personnel had been killed and 180 wounded. 

Divisions on Security Council  The Security Council held its first meeting since the air strikes. It issued a brief statement saying it was "in the process of assessing its approach to the Iraq question" and that it would meet again on Tuesday.

The United States and Britain are expecting a fierce war of words with the other three permanent members of the Security Council - France, China and Russia - all of whom were opposed to Operation Desert Fox.

Following Baghdad's refusal to allow the return of Unscom weapon's inspectors, the Security Council is debating how the monitoring of Iraq's weapons systems can go ahead.

Call for end of Unscom  The French Government, in an initiative supported by Germany, has called for the UN weapons inspection body to be replaced.

French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said a new body could ensure Iraq did not become a danger in the future in return for the lifting of the oil embargo.


And with the UN preparing to resume humanitarian operations in Iraq in the next few days, the United Kingdom and Germany have announced the launch of a new European Union aid initiative for Iraq.

Speaking after meeting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in London, UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said they wanted new ways of helping the Iraqi people.

Mr Fischer said this could involve a conference of aid agencies and governments, adding that conditions must be created to avoid further military action.

Diplomatic differences BBC Diplomatic Correspondent, Barnaby Mason, says that given the international divisions on Iraq the way ahead is still exceptionally unclear.

Robin Cook is continuing contacts with his counterparts in the European Union and governments in the Middle East to try to repair the diplomatic damage done by the air strikes and seeking to forge "a new strategy for stability in relations between the
international community and Iraq".

US Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk said: "We will be taking the initiative in the Security Council and in consultation with other members in the Council."  

However, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has called for serious conclusions to be drawn from what he said was "the illegal and senseless" use of force.

China said the Iraq question must be resolved through political means and not "unilateral" military action.

Although French politicians of all parties have deplored the attacks, the government stopped short of condemning them and Mr Vedrine has said that steps have to be taken to ensure that Iraq did not become a danger in the future.

UN aid resumes  UN aid workers are being sent back to Baghdad within the next few days as the oil-for-food programme
resumes.  More than 100 UN aid workers were evacuated to Jordan after the bombing began.

On the Damascus demonstration against attacks on Iraq

Syrian youths climbed the building of the US embassy in Damascus on Saturday. One of them tore, using his teeth, the
American flag and dropped it from the roof to hundreds of demonstrators who gathered before the building in objection of
the military operation against Iraq.

Meanwhile, other Syrian youths and students took to the streets of Damascus Saturday to express anger, condemnation
and denunciation of the US - British attacks against the "brotherly Iraqi people."

One female student read a message addressed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on behalf of the masses and
students. The message called for promptly ending the attacks against Iraq.

The message also called for lifting the sanctions on Iraq, Libya, and Sudan, for stopping the suffering and putting an end to the
impact of such policies, which it said are a violation of international relations, international legitimacy, the UN charter,
human rights and the very bases of justice, equality and democracy.

A group of students and youths then handed the message to the UN's resident Coordinator, Tawfiq Bin Amara, in
Damascus. Bin Amara voiced the hope for the reduction of the suffering of the Arab people with the commencement of
Ramadan. He referred to the UN secretary general's words, in which he said: "It is a sad day for the UN and the whole
world."

SANA's correspondent reported that while passing in front of the US embassy, "security personnel tried to stop the
demonstrators who forced into the embassy, penetrating the security barriers and shouting slogans in condemnation of the
attack against Iraq."

The demonstrators held banners with slogans including: "The Children of Iraq are stronger than the missiles of the US and
Britain," "Aggression against Iraq is an aggression against the Arab nation," "No to the unjust siege against the people of
Iraq, Libya and Sudan," "The killing of people is the slogan of Anglo - US policy," and "People of Syria side with the Iraqi
brothers."

US diplomatic sources in Damascus said that the American government has officially objected to the Syrian ambassador in
Washington, Walid al-Mu'allim, over "what happened to its centers and institutions in Damascus" and held "the Syrian
government responsible for the security of these institutions and the American citizens in Damascus as well as their safety."

The sources added that the US ambassador in Damascus traveled to Beirut. In a similar statement, the British embassy in
Damascus said that the British ambassador handed on Saturday the Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa' an
official complaint and called on him in the name of the British government "to protect buildings of the UK and to compensate
the losses resulting from damage inflicted in these buildings as a result of the attack." The statement conveyed al-Sharaa's
apology to the ambassador.

Since Saturday night, Syrian security forces have been seen for the first time with armored vehicles intensively cordoning the
US and British embassies and affiliated establishments. The same security measures are also being taken for the buildings
of the UN and the Saudi and Kuwaiti embassies in Damascus.

Syrian Minister of the Interior Muhammad Harba personally supervised these security measures.

The Damascus demonstration was considered the largest in decades, with over one million students, women youths and
elderly persons taking part. They chanted, "Ye Clinton, the coward, you just go and chase women."

Some demonstrators called for boycotting the US and British goods, while others expressed readiness to join Iraqis in the
"Jihad."

In Washington, the US State Department called upon US citizens to avoid travel to Syria and upon the Americans who
live in Syria to limit their movements.

Egyptian Pharmacists start economic boycott of US -UK;
Arab protests continue

The Egyptian Pharmacists Union has called for boycotting medicines produced by Turkey by two American medicine
companies and one British company during the holy month of Ramadan to protest the US and British air strikes against Iraq.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Egyptian union called for boycotting medicines produced by the American Pfizer and
Bristol-Myers Squibb and the British Glaxo Wellcome pharmaceutical companies, noting that this boycott would not
affect drug needs in Egypt because substitutes are available through other foreign companies.

Other Egyptian trade unions called for announcing an economic war against Washington and London and called on pharmacies
to hang posters demanding citizens to boycott American and British medicines.

Clinton Halts Airstrikes in Iraq

By ROBERT BURNS Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton suspended military action against Iraq after a fourth day of airstrikes Saturday, saying the ``operation is now complete.''

The president announced his decision in the Roosevelt Room after meeting with top members of his national security team. Baghdad vowed it would cut off all cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors.

``I'm confident we have achieved our mission,'' the president said. ``We have inflicted significant damage on Saddam's weapons of mass destruction programs, on the command structures that direct and protect that capability and on his military and security infrastructure.''

He said the United States would remain vigilant and monitor whether Iraq tried to rebuild its weapons program.

Clinton said if the U.N. inspectors were not allowed to do their work, ``we will use force if necessary'' to persuade Saddam to
open suspected weapons sites.

Clinton called anew for the removal of Saddam Hussein. ``So long as Saddam remains in power, he will remain a threat to his
people, his region and the world. With our allies we must pursue a strategy to contain him and to constrain his weapons of mass
destruction program.''

The president said he was ``prepared to use force if we see that Iraq is rebuilding its weapons programs.''

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary William Cohen told reporters the airstrikes had inflicted ``significant damage'' on Iraq's
military systems. He said U.S. analysts believe the assault had set back Iraq's ballistic missile program by ``a year or more.''

``We have diminished his ability to threaten his neighbors,'' Cohen said. He acknowledged, however, that it is possible Saddam
eventually will be able to rebuild at least some of the bombed facilities. He said reports suggesting only modest success through
Friday were misleading because bomb damaged classified as ``moderate'' is more than adequate.

The fourth wave of airstrikes began as Iraq officially cut off all cooperation with U.N. weapons inspections and the Muslim holy
month of Ramadan began.

Clinton planned to meet with his national security aides at the White House to assess the effectiveness of the air attack and to
discuss how long it will continue. ``It will stop when the president orders it to stop,'' Cohen said.

He said Clinton's impeachment would have no effect on the air war.

``He is the commander-in-chief and we're going to continue to act accordingly,'' Cohen said. ``We're going to carry out this
mission.''

Gen. Henry Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said about 90 targets had been struck in Iraq so far, and that some
targets had been hit more than once.

The Pentagon displayed videos of Navy laser-guide missiles striking two Iraqi installations, and reconnaissance photos of
several other facilities, including a missile repair station, that sustained moderate to heavy damage from Navy and Air force
bombs and missiles.

Of 20 command-and-control facilities targeted, two sustained light damage, eight had moderate to severe damage and seven
were destroyed, military officials said. Assessments were incomplete on the three others. Bombs also targeted 18 facilities used
to provide security for Saddam's outlawed weapons, and 11 of them sustained moderate to severe damage; five were lightly
damaged and two were destroyed, officials said.

Aside from ineffective use of anti-aircraft artillery, Iraq has put up no resistance. But in the battle for world opinion, it struck
Saturday with an announcement that it was ending all dealings with the U.N. Special Commission, which was created at the end
of the 1991 Gulf War to oversee the destruction of banned Iraqi weapons and to ensure that they not be rebuilt.

Earlier this week the U.N. Special Commission, or UNSCOM, reported that Iraq had failed to cooperate fully with its arms
inspectors, and Clinton cited that as the trigger for air attacks.

U.S. and British officials reported that more than 100 targets had been hit during the first three days of airstrikes. Iraq's
Republican Guard was a major focus of the third night of bombing, marked by thunderous attacks against targets in and around
Baghdad.

In Baghdad, residents said damage was heavy and a number of buildings in the center of the capital - including palaces, security
headquarters and offices of the ruling Baath Party - had been hit.

In addition to his radio address, Clinton made a videotaped message to the Muslim world Saturday to mark the first day of
Islam's holy month of Ramadan. He said the fight with Iraq is not over religion. ``Our dispute is with a leader who threatens
Muslims and non-Muslims alike,'' he said.

``We had to act,'' Clinton declared. ``Saddam simply must not be allowed to threaten his neighbors or the world with nuclear
arms, poison gas or biological weapons.''

Mindful of Arab sensitivities to Iraq's suffering under U.N. economic sanctions and the renewed bombing, Clinton said his
decision to attack was made more difficult by the fragile state of his Middle East peacemaking efforts, highlighted by his trip to
Israel and Gaza last week.

In his radio address to the nation, Clinton made no mention of the impeachment proceedings against him. He repeated his
explanation for attacking Iraq and praised the performance of the U.S. and British troops operating from planes and ships in the
Persian Gulf.

``Now, where do we go from here?'' Clinton asked. `Our long-term strategy is clear. First, we stand ready to use force again if
Saddam takes threatening action such as seeking to reconstitute his weapons of mass destruction, menacing his neighbors or his
own Kurdish citizens, or challenging allied aircraft.''

Clinton said Washington would work with the world community to keep U.N. economic sanctions in place while supporting
programs to provide humanitarian supplies to the Iraqi people. And he pledged to work with Iraqis who ``want a new
government,'' while cautioning that change will not come quickly.

The president's radio remarks were delivered shortly before Iraq announced it would no longer allow UNSCOM arms
inspections. He made no mention of resuming the inspections, although administration officials have said inspections are the best
way to restrain Saddam.

Clinton's national security adviser Sandy Berger said Friday that he hoped Saddam would allow UNSCOM inspectors back
into Iraq once the airstrikes were over; if they are not the only instrument for controlling Iraq's weapons development would be
U.N. economic sanctions.

Brent Scowcroft, who was former President Bush's national security adviser during the 1991 Gulf War, said in an interview that
he doubts economic sanctions alone can stop Saddam from rebuilding a lethal arsenal of banned missiles.

Funeral processions wind through Baghdad

Iraqi officials staged a public funeral procession through Baghdad in which 68 taxis carried coffins which they said contained the bodies of victims from the attacks.

Iraqi Health Minister Umeed Madhat Mubarak was quoted Saturday as saying U.S. and British forces had targeted hospitals and health centers around Iraq in their three days of air raids.

The official Iraqi News Agency quoted him as saying the attacks had killed "a large number of patients and workers" at the hospitals, but gave no details. 

The Western forces hit Saddamiya Hospital in the southern town of Qurna on the first night of raids, returning to strike it again on the second round in the early hours of Friday, Mubarak said.

In the second series of attacks, they hit the Saddam Teaching Hospital in the Salahudin province north of Baghdad, he said, adding that Saddam Medical City and Al-Liqa Maternity Hospital were also damaged in the raids.

Mubarak said during the second night of strikes that 25 people had been killed in Baghdad alone.

Iraq says oil exports unaffected Iraq Oil Ministry officials said Saturday that Iraq's crude oil exports under the U.N.-approved oil-for-food program were continuing, despite some damage to oil facilities from the missiles.

The officials said the exports were averaging 1.8 million barrels per day from the Al-Bakr port on the Gulf and terminals at the Turkish port of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea.

They said a main pumping station on Iraq's strategic pipeline close to Basra was hit in the raids and workers are repairing the damage. The officials also said missiles hit a refinery in the southern city of Basra but that the damage was repairable.

Saturday's attack came hours after Saddam Hussein defied Washington and London and called on Arabs to resist what he called the agents of Satan.

"By God, we will not compromise," thundered the 61-year-old leader.    "We stand against the barbaric ways of those that have used our airspace to launch an aggression against our people," Hussein said in a taped television address broadcast by the Qatar television station al-Jazeera.

"A curse on the agents of Satan," Hussein added.

Iraqi newspapers took up the theme Saturday with fierce condemnation of the United States and Britain and appealed to all Arabs to unite against them.

"Now the doors are open wide for Arabs to enter Iraq to take part in the decisive battle of Um al-Ma'rik (the mothers of all battles)," the Al-Qadissiya newspaper said.

Iraqis Begin Ramadan By Praying For Victory

By Nadim Ladki

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis emerged from bomb shelters in Baghdad Saturday morning to pray at the start of the holy
Muslim month of Ramadan for victory against the United States and Britain.

``Oh merciful God save us, grant us victory and don't let our enemies defeat us,'' about three dozen Iraqis -- their hands raised
to the heavens -- recited after the prayer leader, or imam, at the Haj Mazhar Ahmed al-Samerai mosque.

The faithful, all men, had just climbed out of bomb shelters and headed to the mosque in response to the call for dawn prayers.

Only minutes earlier they had endured the fiercest bombardment of central Baghdad in three nights of U.S. and British air
strikes.  Defense Department officials said late Friday the attacks against Iraq could end within hours. Ramadan had been a key elementin the timing of the raids on Iraq.

Calm returned to Baghdad as dawn broke and residents went about their daily business.

Ramadan, the month in which Muslims believe the Koran, or God's book, was revealed to Prophet Mohammad, is Islam's
holiest month. It starts at dawn after the sighting of the new moon.

The faithful refrain from all food, drink and sex from dawn to sunset during the month. The majority of Iraqis are Muslims.

``Ramadan is the month of mercy and patience,'' Doctor Ziad al-Hassan told Reuters after the prayers.

``Patience is the key to salvation and hopefully during this month we will see victories and the end of the siege,'' he said.

Iraq has been under United Nations sanctions since it invaded Kuwait in 1990. The U.N. has said its inspectors must certify
Iraq is clear of weapons of mass destruction before the sanctions can be lifted.

``I prayed for the lifting of sanctions and to be able to enjoy Ramadan like we used to,'' said Mohammad Ali.

Economic hardships caused by the sanctions against the oil-rich country have plunged many Iraqis into poverty.

Shortages of food and other essentials have deprived them of the ability to mark the end of their daily fasts with traditionally rich meals.

For the third consecutive night, Baghdad came under attack in the early hours of Saturday.

About 20 explosions shook the capital in three waves of raids by warplanes or cruise missiles.

Anti-aircraft fire from Iraqi defenses illuminated the night sky during the attacks.

The U.S. and British attacks were triggered by a U.N. report accusing Iraq of failing to cooperate with U.N. arms inspectors
overseeing the elimination of the country's weapons of mass destruction.

``Our faith in God is great,'' Ahmed Haseeb said after the prayers.

``The most glaring victories in Islam happened during Ramadan. God willing, all the blows by our enemies will not affect us or
force us to change our path.''

Gulf TV Says 50 Killed In Strikes On Baghdad

DUBAI (Reuters) - A Gulf television station said Saturday that more than 50 people had been killed in the Iraqi capital
Baghdad in three days of U.S.-British air strikes.

Qatar's al-Jazeerah satellite channel said its correspondent in Baghdad also reported that more than 200 people were wounded
in the attacks.

Iraqi Health Minister Umeed Madhat Mubarak said Thursday that 25 people had been killed and 75 wounded in two rounds
of attacks on Baghdad alone. Iraq has not given any further figures on casualties since then.

The Iraqi capital was hit for the third consecutive day in the early hours of Saturday.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in Geneva Friday that its relief staff visited two Baghdad hospitals where
they saw about 40 people wounded by the joint U.S.-British air raids.

Iraq Raids Could End In Hours - U.S. Officials

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and British military strikes on Iraq could end as early as Friday
night, Washington time -- early Saturday in Iraq -- U.S. defense officials said Friday.

The officials, who asked not to be identified, said a final decision was likely to be made after
assessment of damage from three days of bombing and missile raids, which began Wednesday night.

``As early as Friday,'' one defense official told Reuters when asked about a news report on ABC that the raids might be nearing an end and could be halted after Friday.

White House and Pentagon officials gave no public indication that the raids might be at an end, earlier suggesting that they could
continue into the weekend.

``They (attacks) will not be affected by the beginning of Ramadan,'' Defense Secretary William Cohen said in an interview with
CNN Friday night when asked if they would continue after the Muslim observance of the month-long fasting period of Ramadan beginning this weekend. ``We are sensitive to the beginning of Ramadan ... but the military operation is paramount now and we will continue to carry it out.''

``There is no fixed end time. We have set very specific targets that we intend to attack and when those missions are completed
then the mission will end. Until that occurs, we have to keep at least some flexibility. We may have to go back and strike some
targets,'' Cohen said.

   Russia Recalls Envoys; World Split On Iraq
LONDON (Reuters) - Russia recalled its ambassadors to Washington and London

amid mounting polarization in world opinion as the United States and Britain struck at Iraq again early Friday.

The Russians joined other countries in calling for the raids to stop. But some stood behind Washington and London and blamed Baghdad for creating the crisis.  As the United States and Britain unleashed new waves of missile and bomb attacks on Iraq overnight, salvos of reaction reverberated around the world.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Thursday after the initial strikes that they ``crudely violated'' the United Nations Charter
and were ``fraught with the most dramatic consequences'' for the Gulf region.

Hours later came the announcements that Russia had recalled its Washington ambassador Yuli Vorontsov and London Embassador Yuri Fokin.

``In connection with the continuing U.S. and British military air strikes against Iraq, the Russian leadership has decided to
urgently recall the Russian ambassadors to Washington and London for consultations in Moscow,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin said in Moscow.

State Department spokesman James Rubin told Reuters in Washington Thursday: ``This is their decision. We've long had differences with Russia on the question of the use of force against Iraq.''

Despite many differences with the United States in recent years over Iraq and other issues, Moscow has not recalled an
ambassador from Washington since well before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Russia's lower house of parliament overwhelmingly backed a resolution accusing the United States and Britain of ''international
terrorism.''

China joined Russia in strongly condemning the attacks, while France distanced itself from the raids -- putting the United States
and Britain at odds with the other three permanent members of the Security Council.

Russia introduced a U.N. Security Council statement Thursday calling for a halt to the U.S.-British air strikes and discussions
on the future of the U.N. weapons inspectors.

Both Russia and China have called for an immediate halt to the raids that the United States and Britain say are justified because
Iraq failed to cooperate with the arms inspectors.

France disapproves of the attacks but has also criticized Iraq for its actions.

The bombings have bitterly divided the five permanent members of the Security Council, leaving them unable to reach any conclusions so long as the attacks continue.

The council at some point has to decide whether to press for the return of the arms inspectors to Baghdad or seek a new solution to the impasse over eliminating Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said China was shocked. ``We urge the United States to immediately stop its military action toward Iraq,'' Sun said.

French President Jacques Chirac said the strikes would not solve the Iraq crisis and launched a whirlwind round of diplomacy
in hopes of rapidly bringing the conflict to an end.

Chirac said he had talked to President Clinton, United Nations chief Kofi Annan, Egyptian head of state Hosni Mubarak,
Jordan's King Hussein and other world leaders in an effort to pin down ``the means to come out of this crisis.''

Reaction from Arab nations ranged from concern to strong condemnation of the strikes.

Syrian parliament speaker Abdulqader Qaddoura urged the world community to denounce the strikes, while theYemeni government called them a ``flagrant aggression.''

Saudi Arabia expressed regret and concern over the attacks, but it blamed Iraq's failure to comply with U.N. resolutions for the strikes.

Israel, a target of Iraqi Scud missile attacks during the Gulf War, said it would deploy Patriot anti-missile missiles as a
precaution. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had no intention of becoming part of the showdown.

Kuwait, whose invasion by Iraq prompted the 1991 conflict, put some military units on a higher level of alert.

Iran called the attacks on its neighbor ``unacceptable'' and said one U.S. missile had landed in southern Iran.

Commentators in the region suggested the true aim of the attacks was to divert attention from impeachment proceedings against
Clinton for alleged perjury and obstruction of justice over his affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Angry Palestinians burned the U.S. flag and denounced Clinton, just days after waving the Stars and Stripes to greet him on a landmark visit.  Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli troops throughout the West Bank. Israeli soldiers shot dead one man, witnesses said.

In the United States, polls showed the strikes winning support by nearly a 3-1 margin and newspaper editorials rang out with
strong endorsements.

Yugoslavia, itself threatened by air strikes earlier this year, condemned the attacks as violating international law and changing the world order.

Italy said it would ask Washington and London to halt the raids and let the United Nations deal with the crisis.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed regret efforts to preserve peace had failed. ``This is a sad day for the United Nations, and for the world,'' he said.

But the Austrian presidency of the European Union said Saddam bore full responsibility for the attacks.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder supported the strikes, calling them ``the consequence of the obstinate refusal of
Saddam Hussein to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors.''

Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi voiced support, saying Iraq should recognize its weapons of mass destruction
threatened world peace.

Clinton's wife Hillary praised her husband Thursday as a peacemaker and leader.

``I'm very proud of what our president has been able to achieve, not only in this country but around the world,'' the U.S. first
lady told a glittering White House dinner.

Western forces pound Baghdad in second, 'stronger' assault

This Pentagon photo shows the Military Intelligence Headquarters in Baghdad

Befor (left) and after (right) the first American strike.    

Baghdad Hit In Second Wave Of Attacks

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - American and British warplanes struck Baghdad Thursday night in a
second wave of attacks aimed at smashing Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Anti-aircraft batteries fired into the sky and at least 13 huge explosions from incoming missiles and
bombs rocked Baghdad around 10 p.m. (1900 GMT). Journalists said some of the strikes
appeared to be close to the center of the city.

U.S. defense officials in Washington said B-52 bombers, each capable of firing 20 long-range cruise missiles, had been
deployed from the British Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia while U.S. Navy planes conducted raids from the aircraft carrier Enterprise in the Gulf.

British Tornado bombers based in Kuwait had earlier launched dusk raids outside the capital.

In Washington, the House of Representatives briefly set aside deep partisan divisions over the impeachment of President
Clinton to pass a resolution of unequivocal support for the U.S. action.

Defense Secretary William Cohen said U.S. missiles and bombs had severely damaged Iraqi targets in the previous night's raids
on sites including military intelligence headquarters and anti-aircraft weapons.

``I've seen some of the (reconnaissance) photos this morning and some of the targets that we have looked at appear to be
severely damaged,'' Cohen said on television.

The State Department said it had closed 40 U.S. embassies in Africa for two days because of the military action and
unspecified threats.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said the overnight cruise missile attacks had caused ``heavy casualties and
collateral damage.''

He said missiles had hit the security police and military intelligence headquarters buildings in Baghdad, but gave no details of
damage or casualties.

Army General Henry Shelton, the chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, said more than 50 separate targets had been hit in
the first wave of strikes involving more than 70 U.S. Navy aircraft and more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Baghdad had remained calm throughout the day as citizens mopped up damage caused by the blitz in the early hours.

Hospital doctors in Baghdad said at least five people had been killed and 30 wounded in the missile strikes but there were no
official casualty figures.

Sahaf said the home of one of Saddam's daughters, Hala, was hit in the missile attacks but she was not there at the time.

British officials said the initial attack, dubbed operation ''Desert Fox,'' had been aimed at destroying Iraq's anti-aircraft systems
to facilitate later bombing runs.

The attacks sent Washington and Britain into a wall of critical flak from friend and foe alike.

In Washington, Republicans accused Clinton of ordering the strikes to divert attention from their impending impeachment vote
against him over the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The office of incoming House Speaker Robert Livingston said the debate would start Friday morning and probably wrap up
Saturday, but Democratic opposition appeared to make the timing uncertain again.

Clinton could at least look to a House vote of support for the U.S. troops, passed by an overwhelming 417 votes to five.

``No matter what our debates at home, we are as a nation prepared to lead the world,'' outgoing House Speaker Newt
Gingrich said. ``I rise to say today to Saddam the United States can both govern itself and lead the world simultaneously.''

China joined Russia in strongly condemning the attacks while France distanced itself from the raids -- putting the United States
and Britain at odds with the other three permanent members of the Security Council.

Kremlin officials said the strikes had probably wrecked chances of the Russian parliament agreeing to ratify the 1993
START-2 nuclear arms reduction treaty with the United States.

``You can forget about START-2 ratification,'' said Sergei Prikhodko, President Boris Yeltsin's deputy chief-of-staff. Defense
Minister Igor Sergeyev called off a trip to NATO headquarters in Brussels.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian during an angry protest against the strikes on Iraq.

Earlier, Palestinians had burned the U.S. flag and denounced Clinton just days after waving the Stars and Stripes to greet him
on a landmark visit.

``Clinton, the dirty dog, wanted to cover up his filthy, sexual crimes by hitting Iraq,'' one Palestinian man said at a refugee camp
near Bethlehem. Others shouted ``Clinton you coward, go look for women.''

Hundreds of students swarmed out of the American University in Cairo campus intending to march on the nearby U.S.
embassy. ''By our spirit and blood we will stand by Iraq!'' they shouted before police used batons to quell their protest.

The Vatican bluntly condemned the strikes against Iraq as aggression and said it hoped that international order would be
re-established soon.

But the European Union presidency said Saddam bore full responsibility for the attacks. Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang
Schuessel said an EU-U.S. summit scheduled to take place in Washington Friday would go ahead as planned.

British officials said the assault on Iraq was not designed to kill or topple Saddam but to ensure that he was no longer a threat
to his neighbors.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the first objective was ''to make sure we do everything possible'' to hit Iraq's air defense
systems.

The attacks, which followed Wednesday's evacuation of U.N. weapons inspectors from Baghdad after they accused Iraq of
halting cooperation with them, drew a defiant response from Saddam.

``Fight the enemies of God, the Arab nation and humanity,'' he declared in a statement. ``God willing, you will be the victors.''

Europe's leading bourses largely ignored the strikes and put on around one per cent on average. Wall Street stocks also rose
and bonds edged lower as financial markets displayed little if any alarm.

Polls showed most Americans supporting the air strikes and rejecting speculation that they were intended to delay an
impeachment vote. A CNN poll of 543 Americans showed 74 percent supported the action, with 13 percent opposed.

U.S. officials said more than 200 aircraft and 20 warships, including 15 B-52 bombers, were deployed in the Gulf region
carrying more than 400 cruise missiles and other bombs.

Russia, China, Iraq Call For Halt To U.S. Air Strikes

By Anthony Goodman

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia, China and Iraq called on the United States and Britain to halt
their attacks on Baghdad in a late Wednesday night Security Council debate convened at Moscow's
request.

The three nations also launched strong personal attacks against chief U.N. weapons inspector Richard
Butler for a report charging Baghdad with failing to honor a pledge to resume full cooperation with his
arms experts.

The report by Butler, chairman of the U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of Iraqi disarmament, was the basis
for the U.S.-British attacks.

In response, both the United States and Britain said military force was undertaken only when it became evident that
diplomacy had been exhausted and Iraq had broken its promise to cooperate with weapons inspectors.

``Iraq's policy of unremitting defiance and non-compliance necessitated the resort to military force,'' U.S. Ambassador Peter
Burleigh said.

No resolution was adopted during the formal public session, which allowed council members to state their views.

``I speak to you now as the rockets and bombs are falling over the cities and villages of Iraq,'' Baghdad's U.N. ambassador
Nizar Hamdoon told the council.

He asked the council to ``fulfill its responsibilities as set forth in the U.N. Charter and request the immediate unconditional
cessation of what is underway in Iraq.''

``The exaggerated uproar over the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is nothing but a big lie. The other lie is a claim that Iraq
poses a threat to its neighbors,'' he added.

Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov, at whose request the 15 council members were summoned into emergency session,
urged that ``an end be immediately put to these acts of military force, that restraint and prudence be demonstrated and no
further escalation of the conflict be allowed.''

``No one is entitled to act independently on behalf of the United Nations and even less to assume the functions of a world
policeman,'' he said.

Although there were ``certain problems'' regarding cooperation between Iraq and UNSCOM, the current crisis ``was
created artificially as a result of the irresponsible acts'' by Butler, Lavrov added.

He said Butler's report gave a ``distorted picture of the real state of affairs'' while he had evacuated UNSCOM staff from
Iraq without consulting the Security Council.

Butler said in his report that Iraq's lack of full cooperation made it impossible for inspectors to determine that Baghdad had
eliminated its weapons of mass destruction, a key requirement for lifting stringent U.N. sanctions imposed in August 1990
after Iraq's troops invaded Kuwait.

Chinese ambassador Qin Huasun said his country long advocated the peaceful settlement of disputes.

``We call upon the United States and the United Kingdom to stop forthwith all military actions against Iraq and to avoid any
other acts which may worsen the situation and to return to the path of cooperation and dialogue,'' he said.''

Butler had ``played a dishonorable role in this crisis'' while UNSCOM's reports were ``one-sided and evasive of facts. It is
difficult for the UNSCOM leader to shirk his responsibility over the current crisis,'' Qin added.

The council met shortly after Secretary-General Kofi Annan read a statement expressing regret that his efforts to preserve
peace had failed to avert the use of force.

``This is a sad day for the United Nations, and for the world,'' a grim-faced Annan told reporters especially summoned to
hear his statement. He declined to answer questions.

``My thoughts tonight are with the people of Iraq, with the 307 United Nations humanitarian workers who remain in the
country and with all others whose lives are in danger.''

``It is also a very sad day for me personally. Throughout this year I have done everything in my power to ensure peaceful
compliance with Security Council resolutions, and to avert the use of force,'' Annan said.

The council was earlier analyzing Butler's crucial report during closed-door consultations when ambassadors' beepers went
off, telling them the air strikes had begun.

Britain's ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock then called for a recess and Lavrov requested a public debate.

It was the third time this year the Security Council met in emergency session as the United States and Britain prepared to
launch raids against Iraq. But unlike the other two occasions, no new diplomatic initiative emerged this time, indicating
members were resigned to the expected air strikes.

Iraqi Doctors Say At Least Two Dead In U.S. Raids
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Doctors at a Baghdad hospital said Thursday two people had died and 30
were wounded in U.S.-led attacks against the Iraqi capital.

``I have seen around 30 wounded and two dead. They have missile and shell injuries,'' Hazem
Nassiri, director of a teaching hospital in Baghdad's Yarmouk district, told reporters on a
government-organized tour of the hospital.