BAGHDAD, March 16: Iraq carried on destroying banned al-Samoud missiles on Sunday, United Nations weapons inspectors said, despite Baghdad’s moves to put the country on a war footing ahead of a possible U.S.-led attack.

“Two missile teams went out today and destruction of al- Samoud missiles continues today,” Hiro Ueki, spokesman for the UN Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), told Reuters.

However, the inspectors’ ability to roam Iraq was complicated on Sunday when they had to withdraw five of their helicopters after insurers cancelled cover because of war fears.

An Iraqi source said this left inspectors with just three other, separately insured helicopters to cover the country.

Iraq has so far destroyed 68 out of around 120 al-Samoud 2 missiles, after chief UN inspector Hans Blix and his team ruled that they violated a 150 km (93 mile) maximum range imposed after Iraq’s defeat in the 1991 Gulf War.

The United States and Britain have dismissed the missile destruction as insufficient and want more sweeping steps to meet UN demands that Baghdad scrap all its alleged chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programmes if it is to avoid war.

The two Western allies have readied some 250,000 troops to attack Iraq—Reuters