TEL AVIV, Aug 15: Israel said on Thursday it had begun vaccinating against smallpox and would soon hand out anti-radiation pills to the public, as fears grew of attack by Iraq if the United States goes to war against Baghdad.

The health ministry said on Thursday it had inoculated 700 health workers and was awaiting a government decision on whether to vaccinate up to 150,000 more, including police, ambulance workers and hospital staff.

“We still don’t have the exact list but it will be something between 15,000 and 150,000 people,” said ministry spokesman Ido Harari.

Administering vaccinations for smallpox, a disease that kills about a third of all those infected, is only one step in Israel’s domestic defence programme to prepare for an expected US offensive against Iraq later this year or early next year.

Israel’s atomic energy committee said anti-radiation iodine tablets would be distributed to people living near Israel’s two nuclear reactors. It denied the move was connected to any threat from Iraq.

But the Ha’aretz daily said the possibility Iraq would try to fire missiles at Israel’s two nuclear reactors was one of the scenarios officials were preparing for in the event Baghdad strikes at Israel in response to a US attack.—Reuters