Iraq Condemns U.S. Air Strike on Missile Site
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Iraq’s government-controlled newspapers Friday condemned a U.S. air strike against an Iraqi air defense battery, calling it an act of aggression and cowardice.
U.S. warplanes bombed an Iraqi surface-to-air missile battery in two strikes Thursday. The Pentagon said the raids were provoked by Iraqis firing two missiles at a pair of U.S. planes near the northern oil-producing city of Mosul.
The planes were patrolling the “no-fly” zone over northern Iraq imposed by the United Nations after the 1991 Persian Gulf War to protect Iraqi Kurds.
The Iraqi news agency INA, monitored in Nicosia, said daily newspapers accused President Clinton of continuing “the aggressive policy of many previous administrations.”
It said Al Thawra, the newspaper of the ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party, accused Washington of “reckless and irresponsible behavior.”
Another newspaper, the state-run Al Iraq, called the attack “an act of cowardice.”
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