IRAQ TAKES MISSILES FROM U.N.

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, January 11, 1993                   TAG: 9301110052
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
IRAQ TAKES MISSILES FROM U.N.
The confrontation between the West and Iraqi President Saddam Hussein escalated to a new crisis level Sunday as 200 Iraqi soldiers raided a U.N. bunker in the demilitarized zone between Kuwait and Iraq.
The Iraqi troops brushed aside U.N. troops that were guarding the installation.
U.S. officials said the Iraqis, claiming they were acting "under the highest authority," carried away a sizable cache of weapons, including 15 Silkworm surface-to-surface missiles. They vowed to "level" the area by today if U.N. troops did not withdraw.
The raid constituted the boldest attempt by the Iraqi military since the Persian Gulf War to challenge U.N. forces anywhere in Iraq.
A U.S. official called the incident "a flagrant violation" of U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, which governs the cease-fire accord, and a far worse flouting of U.N. authority than Iraq's brief movement of missiles into the "no-fly zone" last week.
Iraq also refused Sunday to allow a U.N. plane carrying a weapons-inspection team to land in Baghdad, dismissing U.S. and U.N. warnings that such actions could lead to "serious consequences."
Both the Bush administration and the United Nations reacted angrily to the latest provocations. The White House, acting through U.S. allies, privately issued stern new warnings to Iraq not to carry out its threats to level the U.N. bunker and to bar more U.N. flights.
At U.S. insistence, the U.N. Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting today to discuss the Iraqi violations, with expectations that members would act quickly - probably within the next day or two - to formulate a strong response.
Although officials declined to say precisely what the United States will recommend, it is clear that some form of military action is among the main options that the allies will consider. Washington already has said that it would not issue any new warnings before launching a strike.
Diplomats said the action taken by the Security Council would depend mainly on Iraq's behavior in the next few hours. They said that, if Baghdad backs down, it could escape with little more than another warning.
But they warned that if Iraqi forces carried out their threat to level the bunker - or if Baghdad continued to bar U.N. flights - the council could order military action or impose even tougher new restrictions, such as the no-fly zone limits that it set last August.
It was not immediately clear whether the Bush administration, in its waning days in office, would be eager - or even able - to muster a new international coalition to send troops to quell the Iraqis.
Officials did say the allies have substantial air and naval power in the area and might seek to destroy the Silkworm missiles the Iraqis took Sunday. "Words alone aren't going to do anything here," one official said. "It's a question of whether we're willing to back this up with force."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB