BBC Correspondent David Campanale: Iraq says no-fly zones are 'illegal' and military retaliation is justified

The Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Nizar Hamdoon, said the exclusion zones were illegal and not supported by UN resolutions.

And he warned that Iraq would have to defend itself if exclusion zone patrols, by British and US planes, continued.

Nizar Hamdoon: "Iraqis will have to defend themselves"

He said: "These no-fly zones are illegal and therefore they have to go."

He added: "If the Americans stay away from Iraq I don't see any problem for their planes. If they try again to intrude Iraqi air space the Iraqis will have to defend themselves."

The latest Iraqi moves come after American F-16 fighter planes patrolling the northern no-fly zone came under fire from Iraqi anti-aircraft guns.

US warplanes destroyed an anti-aircraft base north of Mosul. Iraq says four of its soldiers were killed.

President Bill Clinton has defended the pilots saying they were acting in self-defence. He also said the patrols would continue.

Caroline Wyatt: "Diplomacy overshadowed"

BBC Baghdad Correspondent Caroline Wyatt says the issue could exacerbate splits within the UN Security Council as both Russia and China believe the no-fly zones are not endorsed by any UN resolution.

She says Baghdad may be hoping to capitalise on those divisions by portraying itself, once again, as the victim of US aggression.

The air exclusion zones were established after the Gulf War, using a UN resolution from 1991 that condemned the Iraqi Government for oppressing its civilian population.

Iraq has indicated that it is defying the air exclusion orders, which it has always maintained contravenes international law.

Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan said Iraqi planes were in effect flying normally in both exclusion zones.

He said: "We consider that the American and British aggression which started on 16 December is still going on.

"[Their] jets are patrolling or violating Iraqi air space and our fighters are still defending against this aggression."