Gulf allies poised to strike Saddam: Iraq's UN ambassador rejects no-fly zone as deadline for moving missiles nears

The United States and its Gulf war allies are poised for a military strike against Iraq from tonight, unless anti-aircraft systems are withdrawn from a no-fly zone in the south of the country.

Washington yesterday stood by its ultimatum, delivered to Iraqi diplomats late on Wednesday, in spite of intelligence indications from the Pentagon that some movement of the offending missiles had begun.

Served jointly by the US, Britain, France and Russia, the ultimatum gave Baghdad 48 hours to withdraw missile and radar-tracking systems moved into the no-fly area last Sunday. The deadline expires at 10.15pm. Allied action could follow any time, sources said.

Early yesterday, Baghdad emphatically rejected the allied demand. 'It is the right of Iraq to deploy air defences throughout the country,' said the deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, according to the official Iraqi news agency. Iraq 'rejects these American threats' and does not recognise the flight ban.

Last night Iraq's UN ambassador, Nizar Hamdoon, reiterated that position to his allied counterparts. While not flatly rejecting the ultimatum, Mr Hamdoon said the no-fly zone was illegitimate because it was not imposed by the United Nations.

Baghdad's defiance prompted US officials to warn that some use of force against President Saddam Hussein was rapidly becoming unavoidable. 'It does not seem, after our experience of the last two years, that Saddam seems to understand any other message,' said Robert Gates, the CIA director.

US forces in the region, including 60 strike aircraft in Saudi Arabia and aircraft on board the carrier Kitty Hawk in the Gulf, are on high alert. Six British Tornado bombers based in Dhahran were also reported to be ready for deployment. Targets could include either the missile systems or Iraqi airstrips and communication centres.

The Pentagon tried to douse fears that a military initiative could trigger a new conflict. There have been reports of a rift between the White House and the Pentagon, the latter less inclined than President George Bush to take military steps.

The no-fly zone was declared by the US, Britain and France in August to protect southern Shia Muslims from repression by Baghdad. They argue that the creation of the zone, south of the 32nd parallel, and its enforcement, if necessary by military means, are justified by UN Security Council Resolution 688, setting terms after the Gulf war ceasefire. Baghdad rejects that.

Joe Sills, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Boutros Boutros- Ghali, said: 'The no-fly zone and retaliation measures are not specifically established in any Security Council resolution.'

The current crisis was triggered by US jets shooting down an Iraqi MiG 25 inside the zone on 27 December. The subsequent deployment of the Iraqi missile systems led US intelligence to conclude that US aircraft patrolling the skies were under direct threat.

There remained some hope that President Saddam would withdraw the missiles in time, conforming to a 'cheat and retreat' pattern of challenging allied restrictions, then backing down when faced with retaliation.

First, but inconclusive, signs of movement of the missiles was reported anonymously by some Pentagon sources yesterday, but not confirmed by the official spokesman.

The sources said that it was too soon to determine whether the movement was the start of a withdrawal or an effort by the Iraqis to make the missiles harder to find.

Some analysts predicted that President Saddam would attempt to make the allies' position more difficult, either by withdrawing only some of the missiles, or by taking them just outside the restricted zone.

Meanwhile, senior Republican Congressmen who met President Bush yesterday to discuss the crisis said he was determined to face down the Iraqi leader. The leader of the House Republicans, Bob Michel, said Mr Bush remained 'very resolute' and was 'sticking to his guns and not backing away from a tough decision'.

A spokesman for Bill Clinton, the President-elect, who has received daily White House briefings, said: 'Governor Clinton fully supports President Bush's policy.'

KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait accused Iraqi border forces of attacking one of its frontier posts yesterday, and UN observers said they were investigating the incident, Reuter reports.

The Interior Ministry said the 25 attackers, who opened fire on the border post 80km (50 miles) north of the capital on Tuesday night, came from an Iraqi frontier post.

Zaid Haidar, Iraq's ambassador to the European Community, said: 'That is absolutely not right.'