U2 flights over Iraq halted after two spyplanes used simultaneously

UN arms inspectors yesterday said they had withdrawn two U-2 reconnaissance planes over Iraq for safety reasons after Baghdad complained both aircraft were in the air simultaneously.

Ewen Buchanan, spokesman for the UN Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission, said he was unaware if the Iraqi air force had tried to intercept the planes.

But a US official said Iraq “informed us when the planes were in the air that only one was acceptable and the second would be viewed as ‘hostile.’”

He said the inspectors asked Washington to temporarily suspend the flights, flown on behalf of the United Nations, until US and UN officials could meet on the incident in New York.

Iraq, the US official said, had been told about the two aircraft 48 hours in advance but other sources said this had not been made clear and Iraq had expected one U-2 because of past practices.

“It may have been a misunderstanding because of the tense situation,” said one UN source, adding that Iraq could not restrict the number of U-2 flights but was immediately wary when it saw more than one plane.

Should Iraq be found to have interfered with the flights, chief UN inspector Hans Blix, executive chairman of UNMOVIC, is obligated to report the incident to the UN Security Council immediately.

But Russia’s UN ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, whose country opposes military action against Iraq, contended that “UNMOVIC is not considering it a provocation.” He said the incident was a “misunderstanding” and “blown out of proportion”.

Mr. Buchanan told reporters: “I can confirm that two U-2 reconnaissance aircraft operating on behalf of the UNMOVIC operated in Iraqi air space this morning.

“Although Iraq had been notified of a flight time window, they expressed surprise and concern that two flights were operating simultaneously. In the interests of safety, UNMOVIC requested the aircraft to withdraw,” he said, adding that further U-2 and Mirage flights were still planned.

UN sources said there was no agreement that only one U-2 aircraft could fly at one time, although that had been past practice.

The incident came as the United States and Britain attempted to win support for a new Security Council resolution that would give Iraq until March 17 to show it was disarming or face war.