|
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
Report: U.S. Completes Plan to Attack Iraq NewsMax.com WiresBEIRUT, Lebanon – The United States has completed intensive negotiations with Qatar, Jordan, Kuwait and Turkey for using their territories and air space to carry out an attack against Iraq meant to oust Saddam Hussein, daily As-Safir reported Thursday. Our Friends the Saudis As-Safir, a Lebanese newspaper that often reflects Syrian views, quoted diplomatic sources as saying Saudi Arabia informed Washington of its final decision refusing to allow U.S. forces to use its territories or to allow U.S. bases in the Kingdom in any battle against Iraq. The sources said the United States then stopped pressing Riyadh and began trying instead to confirm deals with other countries neighboring Iraq. Washington reached agreement with Jordan on U.S. forces entering Iraq by land from the Hashemite kingdom, according to the diplomatic sources. The Safir report is among a number of reports, including an earlier one the newspaper published nearly two weeks ago, that have appeared recently in the American and international press, claiming the United States has prepared plans for an invasion of Iraq. Strategies include crossing land frontiers from neighboring states, according to the reports, all of which have been vehemently denied by Jordan. In Washington, administration officials have been reiterating that President Bush has so far not approved any plan concerning intervention to change the regime in Baghdad. Some 5,000 Jordanian soldiers, all of Jordanian rather than Palestinian descent and mostly from the Bani Hassan tribe, have been selected for special training and missions behind the lines. The Jordanian troops were being equipped with special light and medium weapons. The sources said 200 jeeps mounted with machine-guns had arrived in Jordan while Jordanian soldiers began training on blocking roads, preventing infiltration, putting areas near the frontier under close surveillance and establishing communication with Iraqis. About 1,600 U.S. soldiers and officers have so far deployed in areas in northern Jordan and 800 others in southern areas. U.S. special operations units were monitoring Jordanian and Iraqi border areas. The sources said the areas around al-Mafraq and Safawi on the frontier with Iraq had been selected as points from which to launch military operations against Iraq. Consequently, two military airports and special radar stations are to be equipped while bases for surface-to-air and surface-to-surface rocket batteries as well as a military hospital will be built. Moreover, additional measures to protect Jordan from any infiltration will be adopted in the Jordan Valley that abuts Syria and Lebanon. They include installing Patriot missiles and deploying special units. Meanwhile, the sources said the U.S. has been intensifying meetings with all Iraqi opposition groups, including Shi'i ones not on good terms with Washington. The last, analysts said, was apparently a reference to the Tehran-based Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The meetings focused on forming a temporary administration after the intervention. The sources said the Iraqi opposition admitted that its attempts to secure the support of high-ranking Iraqi officers or the cooperation of highly influential tribal leaders have failed.
Copyright 2002 by United Press International. All rights reserved.
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
A product that might interest you: |
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
| All Rights Reserved © 2012 NewsMax.Com |