U.S. officials claim Saddam has become increasingly upset by the last six weeks of air confrontations with American jets - and the new warnings against U.S. ally Turkey appear to be further evidence of his frustration.

Saddam's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, told Radio Monte Carlo yesterday that Iraq would strike at Incirlik, in south Turkey, which has been the home to Western jets flying daily patrols over the northern "no-fly" zone.

Ramadan also repeated Iraq's threat, made on Sunday, to attack other bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait that have served as home to the U.S. and British jets patrolling a southern zone.

"If the Turkish base continues attacking Iraq, it will certainly be [targeted] like other bases," Ramadan said.

"I say if America and Britain do not retreat, they'll soon pay dearly in relation to the properties and elements they use to launch aggression on the people of Iraq," he said.

Ramadan made his remarks the same day that Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz carried Saddam's appeal to Ecevit in Ankara.

But Ecevit defended the role of the Western jets.

"The U.S. and British pilots open fire only to defend themselves," he told a press conference after the talks.

He said he told Aziz the mission was operating under the strict control of Turkish officers, who closely monitor the rules of engagement each time the Western jets fire.

Whether Iraq would carry out a threat against its Muslim neighbor, a NATO member, is unclear.

Last month, Incirlik was briefly put on alert after reports, later proved erroneous, that Iraq had launched a missile.

Ecevit said Aziz, "my old friend," told him the air confrontations would continue because Iraq could not accept foreign presence in its skies.

"He told me they had to continue to do that as proof of sovereignty in their airspace," Ecevit said.

Baghdad claimed that U.S. jets also fired on civilian sites in Iraq's southern "no fly" zone yesterday, killing five people and injuring another 22. The claim was not confirmed.

-- Andy Soltis - 2/21/99