U.S. AND BRITISH AIR FORCES STEP UP ACTIVITY IN IRAQ'S "NO-FLY" ZONE








MOSCOW, MARCH 7. /RIA NOVOSTI CORRESPONDENT KRISTINA RODRIGUES/. The U.S. and British air forces have stepped up their activity in Iraq's "no-fly zone". This was disclosed to RIA Novosti Wednesday by the Russian foreign ministry's press and information department.


	In fact, an uninterrupted activity of their planes over the area has reached the level of December 2000, when U.S. and British aircraft patrolled mainly southern provinces of Iraq, the official noted.


	According to the Russian foreign ministry, 890 violations of the Iraqi air space were registered in February, 714 planes took off from Kuweit and Saudi Arabia and 176 from the Turkish territory. The planes delivered three air strikes at the civil objects in Iraq.


	All in all, 420 people have died and more than 1,000 have been wounded during the air strikes since December 1998, when the U.S. and the British air force started patrolling the Iraqi "no-fly" zone, the official said.


	The so-called "no-fly" zones were set up without a UNSC sanction. So, they are considered as illegitimate as far as international law goes, the Russian foreign ministry said.