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UK ready for more attacks, Blair warns Iraq

LONDON, England -- Britain has said it is ready to take more action against Iraq following the combined UK/U.S. air strikes on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said more action would follow unless President Saddam Hussein stopped attacking British aircraft imposing a no-fly zone over Iraq.

Blair, speaking on Saturday, said Friday's raids against Iraqi air defence systems were "a limited operation with the sole purpose of defending the pilots and aircrew who patrol the no-fly zones."

Blair's Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, called the raids a humanitarian action.

The Ministry of Defence said that six Iraqi positions were attacked -- five of them outside the southern no-fly zone -- although the allied aircraft, firing long range "stand-off" missiles, did not cross the 33rd parallel which marks the zone's northern limit.

Eight RAF aircraft, including four Tornado GR1 bombers, two Tornado F3 fighter escorts and two VC10 tankers, took part the operation, the MoD said.

Iraqi newspapers vigorously condemned the attack. One newspaper said the air strike on five Iraqi military command and control centres on the outskirts of Baghdad would be avenged.

Iraq says at least two civilians were killed in the air strikes and that more than 20 others -- some of them children -- were wounded.

Such operations would not be needed "if Saddam stopped attacking us," Blair said in a statement.

"But as long as he does, I will continue to take the steps necessary to protect our forces and to prevent Saddam from once again wreaking havoc, suffering and death."

Blair's action in authorising British participation was seen as evidence of a desire to forge a good relationship with new U.S. President George W. Bush ahead of Blair's visit to Washington next Friday.

UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said the raids followed acts of repression by Saddam against Shi'ite Muslims in southern Iraq.

Cook added: "We cannot ask British pilots to patrol the no-fly zones and not act when we see Saddam Hussein preparing to shoot them down. That is why we took the action yesterday. "

But veteran Labour Party left-winger Tony Benn said the raids breached international law and could be described as a "terrorist" action.

"I'm against an action that is contrary to international law," he said, and demanded that Parliament be recalled. "This attack on Baghdad is in one sense a terrorist act."

Foreign Office officials said Iraq had large amounts of chemicals used to make chemical and biological weapons and had used the absence of United Nations weapons inspectors to rebuild its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction.

The British and American warplanes that carried out the raids were operating out of a no-fly zone set up over southern Iraq at the end of the 1991 Gulf War in which coalition forces drove Iraq's invading army out of Kuwait.

The southern zone was imposed ostensibly to protect Shi'ite Muslims who rebelled against Saddam. A northern no-fly zone was set up to offer protection to the Kurdish population. Both zones are regularly patrolled by allied aircraft.

Reuters contributed to this report.