Iraq 'steps up attacks on UK pilots'

The UK has been using more fire power

RAF jets patrolling the no-fly zone in southern Iraq are increasingly coming under missile attack, says a government minister.

And British aircraft have dramatically stepped up their own attacks on Iraq's air defences.

There is a very serious threat to our aircrew. If Saddam Hussein wants to stop that action, all he has to do is to stop targeting our air crews

John Spellar

The rising hostilities come after months of tension, during which dozens of Iraqi civilians are reported to have been killed.

Between August 1992 and December 1998, UK aircraft fired 2.5 tonnes' worth of bombs and bullets over the southern no-fly zone.

But new figures show that between 20 December 1998 and 17 May 2000, that number jumped to 78 tonnes.

Policy shift row

Liberal Democrat defence spokesman Menzies Campbell accused the government of changing the rules of engagement for British planes.

He said the huge increase in bombing by British planes over Iraq would seem to bear out his claims.

But Armed Forces Minister John Spellar denied there had been a shift in policy.

He said Iraq is targetting British and American crews policing the region under conditions laid down by the United Nations.

The minister told the BBC that missiles had been fired at allied planes.

Mr Spellar said: "There's been no shift in policy." And to suggest so was "outrageous", he said.

He added: "There's been a very substantial increase in the threat to allied planes, a lot of targeting [of allied planes].

Missiles launched

"We understand bonuses are being offered to Iraqis who shoot down British planes, and indeed even missiles are being fired at our planes."

Defending the increase in bombing by UK jets, he said: "There is a very serious threat to our aircrew. If Saddam Hussein wants to stop that action all he has to do is to stop targeting our air crews."

Theminister said he was astonished that Mr Campbell was expressing surprise when he had taken part in debates on the policy.

Mr Campbell had said: "The purpose of the British presence in the southern no fly-zone is to ensure that Iraq complies with UN resolution 688, and that essentially our purpose was an humanitarian one.

"But there is a very strong suggestion of a policy shift here and that is something that has never been announced nor debated in Parliament."

The southern no-fly zones are patrolled by the US and UK to protect Kurds from attacks by the Iraqi government. The air exclusion zones were imposed after the Gulf War in 1991.

There have been regular clashes between American and British planes and Iraqi defences ever since.

Iraq says hospitals and homes have been targeted, but allied forces deny attacking civilians.