UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST : U.S. Warplanes Arrive in Jordan for Iraq Patrols
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AZRAQ, Jordan — U.S. warplanes arrived in Jordan on Friday and prepared to patrol Iraq’s southern skies to enforce a “no fly” zone.
They are the first U.S. combat jets to be based in the Hashemite kingdom for missions over Iraq.
Their deployment underlined Jordan’s increasing military links with the Clinton administration and its new role in the international campaign against Baghdad, its onetime ally.
The jets will begin patrolling today, flying through Saudi Arabian airspace to monitor southern Iraq’s air exclusion zone, which the United Nations imposed below the 32nd Parallel in August 1992 to protect Shiite Muslims from reprisals by President Saddam Hussein’s army in the wake of the Persian Gulf War.
The Pentagon said this week that the warplanes will be stationed in Jordan for two months while the U.S. Navy carrier group usually deployed in the Persian Gulf region is absent.
Jordan said it will not take part in the patrols over Iraq.
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