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TEL AVIV, Sept 9: Israel has authorized the United States to stockpile military hardware at its army bases, in view of a possible US-led offensive against Iraq, the daily Maariv reported on Monday.
According to the paper, which got hold of an official odcument, Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer has given the green light for the weaponry to be brought in in the coming days.
A senior US official was quoted as confirming the report.
Under a strategic cooperation agreement, Israel has placed its bases at the disposal of the United States, and will provide logistic and intelligence aid, the source said, although Israel would not be an active player in any military action against Iraq.
Maariv added that dozens of US officials and troops were already at Israeli army bases to prepare for the arms shipments.
“The quantities of arms which have already been shipped to Israel are enormous because Israel is the only country in which we have such confidence,” one of the officials said.
IRAQI SITES BOMBED: US warplanes on Monday attacked an air defence command-and-control target in a “no-fly” zone in southern Iraq in response to attempts to shoot down American and British jets, the US military said.
The Pentagon said it was the 37th such strike against air defences in northern and southern no-fly zones of Iraq this year. Those attacks have increased in recent months as speculation has mounted that the United States might invade Baghdad to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The U.S. Central Command said from its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, that the jets launched precision-guided weapons against the command facility near Al Amarah, about 273kms southeast of Baghdad.
The Pentagon last week dismissed a newspaper report that 100 US and British warplanes had conducted a very large raid in southern Iraq.—Reuters
