Iraq strikes timed to 'avoid Chinese'

International anger against the strikes is growing

The joint US-British air strikes near the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday, were timed to avoid killing or injuring Chinese workers installing cables, the US military has revealed.

The Washington Post, quoting Pentagon officials, says the attacks were conducted on Friday, the traditional Muslim day of prayer, to avoid hitting Chinese workers helping to build a fibre-optic network linking parts of the air defence system.

But on Tuesday, Beijing rejected claims that Chinese workers had assisted in the development of Iraqi air defence installations.

US-China relations were soured after the Chinese embassy in Belgrade was bombed

UN sanctions, imposed on Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War, forbid contracts that would help rebuild Iraq's military.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has condemned the airstrikes, saying they violated Iraq's sovereignty as well as the UN Charter and norms governing international relations.

Anti-aircraft system

The sensitivity of potential Chinese casualties is linked to accidental bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during Nato's 1999 air campaign against Yugoslavia.

That bomb killed three people and injured 20, souring US-China relations for months.

A US military official said fibre-optic cables were being laid at some, but not all, of the sites bombed on Friday.

The Pentagon has warned that a fibre-optic network would threaten to make Iraq's anti-aircraft system far more effective.

It would also greatly increase Iraq's ability to target US and British aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone.

The southern and northern zones are areas established to keep Iraq's air force away from Kurdish and Shi'a areas of the country.

As international criticism of the airstrikes continues, US and British warplanes have resumed patrols over Iraqi airspace.

China, France, Turkey, Russia, and a host of Arab countries have criticised the raids.