Repeating a bellicose weekend statement by President Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi Vice-President, Mr Taha Yassin Ramadan, yesterday said his country was capable of inflicting "significant damage" on Kuwaiti and Saudi bases used by British and US planes.
The US Secretary of State, Mrs Madeleine Albright, speaking in Mexico warned Iraq against attacking bases used by US military aircraft to patrol no-fly zones in Iraq, saying any attack would bring a "swift and sure" response.
Speaking on Iraqi television, Mr Ramadan called on the leaders of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to "put an end to the aggression carried out against Iraq" by US and British planes taking off from their bases.
"If you do not have the will, and if the presence of the Americans and British on your territory was imposed on you, then Iraq will carry out its role and defend its people and its property," said Mr Ramadan.
Iraq "can reach these dens and inflict significant damage, in this region and in any other", he added.
Meanwhile the Turkish Prime Minister, Mr Bulent Ecevit, rejected personal appeals by Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Tariq Tariq Aziz, to stop US warplanes launching attacks on "no-fly zones" in northern and southern Iraq from Turkish soil.
Further air strikes were launched from Turkey yesterday, apparently without casualties. Raids from bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait claimed another five lives, according to Iraqi reports.
The choice of Mr Aziz's route to neighbouring Turkey, through the Kurdish-held enclave of northern Iraq, showed Baghdad's determination to show it still holds sway over the regions patrolled by the western jets.
Mr Ecevit met Mr Aziz in Ankara as US jets from the joint Turkish-US Incirlik base in southern Turkey attacked two Iraqi air defence sites in the north.
"The US and British pilots open fire only to defend themselves," Mr Ecevit told a news conference after the talks. "Turkish officers monitor adherence to the rules with sensitivity." Mr Ecevit said "my old friend" Mr Aziz, who arrived in Turkey on Sunday, had told him Baghdad would not stop challenging the US flights.
Mr Aziz's visit to Turkey, a key US NATO ally, was in itself cause for concern in London and Washington. The left-wing Mr Ecevit, who formed an interim government last month to take Turkey to April polls, had while in opposition criticised the "Northern Watch" patrols set up to protect the Kurds.
Russia yesterday denied a British press report which stated that Moscow had concluded a deal to reinforce Iraq's air force, news agencies reported.
The Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, insisted that Russia strictly adheres to UN resolutions on Iraq and would not allow the delivery of such weaponry to the country, ITAR-TASS reported. Russian state-owned armaments giant Rosvooruzheniye added yesterday that it had concluded no deals with Iraq, Interfax reported.
According to the Sunday Tele- graph, Moscow signed arms contracts in January worth more than $163 million with Iraq.