Explosions in sky over Baghdad

In this story:

• Clinton, Blair talk again
• 'Iraq has not changed its stripes'
• U.N. Security Council discusses issue
• Iraq restructures military
• Related stories and sites

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Iraqi anti-aircraft guns blasted into the night sky above Baghdad early Thursday, as explosions thundered in the distance. CNN nightscope video showed specks of white light flashing across the sky.

The explosions came amid growing expectations of a military strike against Iraq.

U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf were said to be "in execute mode" Wednesday, as White House officials consulted congressional leaders and U.S. allies.

RELATED VIDEO
CNN's Jane Arraf watched the inspectors leave
Real	28K	56K
Windows Media	28K	56K
ALSO:
U.S. forces in Gulf ready to strike Capitol Hill skepticism about possible air strikes

U.S. sources had told CNN early Wednesday that military action -- to punish Iraq for its continued failure to give U.N. weapons inspectors unfettered access to potential prohibited-weapons arsenals -- could come within hours.

The heightened tensions came a day after the U.N.'s chief weapons inspector, Richard Butler, issued a report criticizing Baghdad for continuing to hamper the inspections. The searches are aimed at confirming that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction.

At the Pentagon, top military officials said they had put the finishing touches on attack plans put on hold a month ago, when Western powers last threatened Iraq with military strikes.

"All the forces are in place. Every indication is that we'll likely come today or tomorrow," a senior military official said.

"We're in execute mode," said a senior defense official on condition of anonymity. "We're ready to go."

Last month's military strike threat was averted November 14 when Baghdad agreed to cooperate fully with the inspectors.

But at that time, Western leaders warned Baghdad that a future military strike could come without warning if Iraq again stopped cooperating. To back up their threat, the United States and Great Britain left in place the military firepower they had moved into the region.

Pentagon officials said Wednesday they were waiting for U.S. President Bill Clinton to give the order to strike.

Clinton, Blair talk again

Clinton met with his national security advisers Wednesday morning, but White House officials would not give details of the meeting or discuss options that might be available.

"I'm not going to get into the details of the decision-making or speculate on any of the options," White House spokesman Joe Lockhart told reporters at his daily news conference.

Clinton also called British Prime Minister Tony Blair again, officials said. Clinton and Blair had conferred by phone Tuesday evening, as the U.S. leader was traveling back to Washington from the Middle East.

'Iraq has not changed its stripes'

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright consulted other world leaders, including the foreign ministers of Russia and France, State Department spokesman James Rubin said in his daily briefing.

As tensions with Iraq have increased over the past year, France, Russia and China have opposed the use of force against Iraq.

But, Rubin said, Iraq's behavior may have changed some views.

"The range of views now include a unified consensus that the failures are Iraq's, that the consequences are Iraq's and that the international community believes that Saddam Hussein is failing to comply with his required obligations," Rubin said.

Rubin also denied that the White House had any political motivation in the military mobilization against Iraq in order to deflect media coverage of impeachment proceedings against Clinton.

Rubin said Baghdad had created "the timetable for the ... grave situation we're in today."

"Iraq has not changed its stripes" from earlier near-military confrontations over weapons inspections in August and November, Rubin said, and the United States "can find no grounds for optimism."

U.N. Security Council discusses issue

•Timeline •Maps •Where They Stand •Flashback 1991 •Forces in the Gulf •Bioweapons Explainer •Message Boards •UNSCOM Documents •Related Links

At the United Nations, the Security Council convened for closed consultations on Iraq. The meeting, requested by Russia, recessed about 1:20 p.m. EST, but was to resume later in the day.

Russia requested the meeting to find out why U.N. weapons inspectors were evacuated from Iraq before dawn Wednesday, Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov told CNN.

U.N. weapons chief Butler ordered the evacuations late Tuesday. His entire UNSCOM staff was pulled out before dawn, and flown to Bahrain.

Iraq restructures military

In Baghdad, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein met with members of his command council and the ruling Baath Party.

Saddam Hussein also issued a statement saying the leadership had discussed ways to prepare for the "U.S.-British aggression."

The statement did not indicate what preparations were being taken but indicated that Baghdad is expecting some type of military strike.

The Iraqi leader also divided Iraq into four military commands and handed their control to four trusted aides, state media reported.

The move was apparently aimed at preventing any uprising against his rule in case the imminent U.S.-British attacks are able to deal severe blows to his authority.

Saddam will retain control over the air force, air defense units and missile units, television and radio stations announced, interrupting normal programming.

The air defense, rather than ground forces, will be Hussein's best hope to counter any airstrikes. The reports said Saddam issued a presidential decree to make the changes.

Correspondent Jamie McIntyre, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.