Posted on 01/24/2003 11:39:23 AM PST by TLBSHOW
Coalition drops leaflets warning Iraqis not to repair air defenses
WASHINGTON - Allied aircraft dropped leaflets over Iraq's southern no-fly zone again Friday, telling Iraqis to tune in to American radio broadcasts and warning military forces not to repair air defenses that are being targeted for destruction.
It was the seventh time this year that a leaflet drop was made over the decade-old flight-interdiction zone that British and American planes monitor to keep Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s forces from flying there, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement from its Tampa, Florida, headquarters.
Coalition forces dropped 360,000 leaflets at about 1215 GMT over communication facilities near An Najaf, about 85 miles (136 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, and Umm Qasr and Al Zubayr, both located on the Al Faw Peninsula about 290 miles (466 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad.
Some of the leaflets gave radio frequencies at which coalition forces are broadcasting nightly programs, transmitted from Air Force planes specially equipped to be used as flying radio stations. The month-old broadcasts, aimed at cutting local support for Saddam, talk about United Nations (news - web sites) weapons inspections under way and criticize Saddam on human rights and other issues.
Other leaflets dropped Friday pictured a coalition aircraft bombing cables that links Iraq's air defenses, with the warning "You are risking your life ... they are targeted for destruction."
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