CNN - U.S. denies Iraqi claims of 'enemy' attack
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Web posted at: 12:52 p.m. EST (1752 GMT)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi military said Saturday it had repelled an attack by "enemy planes," but a U.S. spokesman said no U.S., British or French aircraft had been fired on in southern Iraq.
The official Iraqi News Agency did not identify the nationality of the aircraft, but it usually uses the word "enemy" for the United States and Britain. The two nations launched airstrikes against Iraq nearly two weeks ago.
U.S., British and French planes, based in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, routinely patrol "no-fly zones" over northern and southern Iraq.
"At 11:25 (0825 GMT) this morning, formations of enemy planes ... attacked one of our air defense positions which confronted them and forced them to drop their load indiscriminately," an Iraqi military spokesman told the Iraqi News Agency.
The Iraqi spokesman did not specify where the alleged attack took place, but said the aircraft flew into Iraq from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
In Washington, U.S. Defense Department spokesman Glenn Flood said the United States had "no involvement in the alleged incident."
A Clinton administration official said one Western pilot reported seeing anti-aircraft fire from a distance during a routine patrol over the southern no-fly zone.
Saturday's report was the second such incident reported by the Iraqi News Agency since the United States and Britain began four days of air attacks against Iraq on December 16 in a bid to punish Baghdad for its alleged obstruction of U.N. weapons inspectors.
Iraqi officials claimed last Tuesday that "enemy" warplanes fired rockets near Basra in southern Iraq, but the United States and Britain denied the accusation.
Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to Great Britain, Yuri Fokin, returned to London Saturday after being recalled last week over the U.S.-British airstrikes. Yuli Vorontsov, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, was also recalled but returned to Washington earlier this week.
Russia contended the airstrikes violated U.N. rules, but was not anxious to enflame tensions with the West over the issue.
