Israel asks US for prior warning in case Iraq attacked

Israel has asked for advance notice from the United States in case Washington attacks Iraq as part of its war on terrorism.

Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer says he has told the US Secretary of State Israel needs time to prepare for a retaliatory attack by Iraq on the Jewish state.

The US has not said if Iraq will be a target in the war on terrorism.

Mr Ben-Eliezer said he did not give Colin Powell his opinion on whether Iraq should be attacked. Israel has in the past advocated tough US action against Iraq and Iran.

"In the case of Iraq, it's important that we get an alert beforehand in order to prepare," he told Israel Radio. We are taking into consideration that if Iraq will be attacked, we are likely to be one of its first targets."

In his State of the Union address last week, President Bush designated Iraq, Iran and North Korea an "axis of evil."

The US has accused Iraq of supporting terrorism and trying to rebuild its banned weapons programmes. During the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq fired 39 Scud missiles at Israel, causing great damage, mainly in the Tel Aviv area, and killing two people.

Expecting the Scuds might be equipped with chemical or biological warheads, Israel distributed gas masks to citizens at the time. In the end, Iraq fired only conventional warheads.

Following the September 11 attacks and the US anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan, Israelis have crowded gas mask distribution centres to get their equipment checked. But the Israeli army has not yet ordered the population to take special precautions.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to discuss the Iraqi issue in a meeting with Mr Bush in Washington on Thursday.