Caroline Wyatt: A fresh challenge from Iraq

Speaking just a day after a clash between Iraq and the United States, Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan told the Associated Press that Iraqi planes were in effect flying in a normal manner in Iraqi air space.

United States and British officials were sceptical, saying there were no immediate reports of Iraqi aircraft in the no-fly zones.

Our correspondent in Baghdad says that if Iraqi planes are indeed entering the exclusion zones, it raises the possibility of fresh confrontations between Iraq and the US.

Referring to Monday's incident where US planes fired on an Iraqi anti-aircraft base, Mr Ramadan said Iraq would continue to fire at any aircraft that violated Iraqi airspace.

"The war is still on," the vice-president said.

The United States, for its part, has vowed that its fighter jets will continue enforcing air exclusion zones over Iraq.

US President Bill Clinton described the air exclusion zones as an essential part of the US "containment strategy" against the Iraqi government.

The no-fly zones were established by the US and its allies after the 1991 Gulf War, with the aim of preventing Iraqi attacks on Kurds and Shi'a Muslims.

Iraq maintains that the no-fly zones contravene international law.

War of words

Mr Ramadan's remarks are the latest in an escalating war of words between Iraq and the US.

On Monday the US announced that one of its planes had come under fire over northern Iraq, and three missiles had then been targeted on an Iraqi anti-aircraft position.

Iraq says four of its soldiers were killed and an "enemy" plane was "probably" shot down during Monday's exchange of fire.

But the US says all its planes returned safely to base in Turkey, and the Iraqis have yet to locate the wreckage of the plane which they say was shot down.