THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611030027
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 30 lines
A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter plane fired a missile Saturday at an Iraqi radar site after after the radar site locked on the jet while the plane was in the ``no-fly'' zone over southern Iraq, the Pentagon said.
The F-16 returned safely to its base in Saudi Arabia, and it was not immediately known if the Iraqi site was damaged, a Pentagon spokesman, Capt. Bryan Salas, said.
The incident occurred about noon local time (5 a.m. EST) Saturday. An investigation was under way, the Pentagon said.
White House press secretary Mike McCurry, traveling with President Clinton in New Orleans, said Clinton had been briefed on the incident by a member of the National Security Council staff.
McCurry said ``there are no indications of changes in the status of anti-missile deployment'' by Iraq, but he referred reporters to the Pentagon for further details on the incident.
Reading a statement, Salas said the F-16 ``fired a HARM missile at a radar site in southern Iraq after the aircraft was illuminated during a routine Southern Watch mission.''
Since the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the United States and its allies have maintained a ``no-fly'' zone over southern Iraq.
KEYWORDS: IRAQ U.S. AIR FORCE by CNB