Israeli jets use Iraqi airspace to practice Iran strike: website

Israeli jets use Iraqi airspace to practice Iran strike: website

July 14, 2008: An Iraqi website has claimed that Israeli warplanes have been using Iraqi airspace to practice for possible bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. Nahrainnet.com, quoting unnamed sources in the Iraqi defence ministry, said that for the past month Israel has been using US bases in Iraq to conduct overflights. Defence Ministry spokesman Major General Mohammed al-Askari dismissed the report on Friday. "We have no information about Israeli jets using Iraqi airspace for rehearsals," he told AFP. In Jerusalem, meanwhile, an Israeli military spokesman told AFP he was aware of the report and said, "I have no information on this." The US military did not comment on the report. Nahrainnet.com, a news portal, said the defence ministry sources were told by retired army officers that Israeli jets had been entering Iraqi airspace from Jordan and landing at an airport in Haditha in the western province of Anbar. The report said its sources estimated that should the Israeli jets take off from the American bases in Iraq it would take them no more than five minutes to reach Iran's nuclear reactor in Bushehr.