DATE=9/1/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ISRAEL / U-S / IRAQ (L)
NUMBER=2-266056
BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL
DATELINE=JERUSALEM
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United States reportedly has put on
alert a Patriot anti-missile battery for possible
deployment in Israel to protect against potential
attacks from Iraq. However, as correspondent
Meredith Buel tells us from Jerusalem, Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak says he is not
immediately concerned about such a threat.
TEXT: Prime Minister Barak says Israel is ready
for any development, but says he is not sure
there is reason for concern about the possibility
of a missile attack from Iraq.
Mr. Barak was responding to a report in the
Washington Post newspaper, saying U-S defense
officials have alerted a Patriot anti-missile
battery for possible deployment to Israel because
of concern of an Iraqi attack.
The report says U-S and Israeli officials are
concerned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein may try
to act against Israel during the current American
presidential campaign, in the false belief that
U-S policymakers are distracted by the election.
Prime Minister Barak told reporters he is
following developments, but is not sure Israel
needs to be worried about an attack.
Washington sent Patriot missiles to Israel for
the first time during the 1991 Gulf War, but they
failed to intercept most of the 39 Iraqi Scud
missiles fired at Israel, many of which damaged
neighborhoods in and around Tel Aviv.
In 1998, the Pentagon again sent missiles to
Israel because of tension over Iraq's lack of
cooperation with United Nations weapons
inspectors.
That confrontation led to a brief air war against
Baghdad known as Operation Desert Fox. No Iraqi
missiles were fired at Israel during that
conflict.
The unit just put on alert is the 69th Air Defense
Artillery Brigade, which is based near Frankfurt,
Germany.
It is not clear if the United States is acting
because of new intelligence information or a
general concern about Baghdad's intentions.
This latest report says U-S satellites have, in
recent months, detected increased signs of
missile testing south of Baghdad.
Saddam Hussein has, in the past, forced
confrontations to try to create conflict in the
alliance that drove his army from Kuwait during
the Gulf War, and to draw attention to the U-N
sanctions against Iraq.
Since the end of the Gulf War, there have been
several alerts about possible Iraqi attacks,
sending Israelis scrambling to distribution
centers to update their army-issue gas masks.
Patriots are guided supersonic surface-to-air
weapons designed to intercept enemy missiles and
aircraft with explosive warheads.
In partnership with the United States, Israel is
developing a more advanced anti-missile system,
called the Arrow. The Arrow is designed to
intercept incoming ballistic missiles miles above
the earth's surface, far from their targets.
(Signed)
NEB/MB/GE
01-Sep-2000 10:17 AM EDT (01-Sep-2000 1417 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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