Bahrain
U.S., British warplanes bomb anti-aircraft base in Iraq
U.S. and British warplanes bombed an anti-aircraft base Thursday in southern Iraq after coming under Iraqi artillery fire, a U.S. official said.
The attack happened at 3:45 p.m. on Al Faw Peninsula, 290 miles southeast of Baghdad, said Maj. Brett Morris, spokesman for the Joint Task Force Southwest Asia. He said all aircraft returned safely to base and a damage assessment was under way.
Later Thursday, the official Iraqi News Agency quoted an unidentified Iraqi military spokesman as saying U.S. and British planes had attacked Iraqi "civil and service installations" in recent days.
Thursday's strikes marked the third time this year that coalition warplanes have returned fire on Iraqi forces and the second consecutive day that aircraft have come under Iraqi attack.
On Wednesday, coalition warplanes returned fire against an Iraqi military site near Tallil, 170 miles southeast of Baghdad.
United arab Emirates
Saudis will not tolerate unveiled U.S. servicewomen
Saudi officials warned Thursday they would not allow U.S. servicewomen to go around without a head-to-toe robe, and criticized Washington for lifting the requirement that its female troops wear the garment.
A member of the Committee for the Preservation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, a government agency for enforcing Islamic law, said all women must wear the robe, or "abaya" in Arabic, irrespective of religion, nationality or profession.
"Everybody is considered equal under Islam. Whoever doesn't like it, let them go back home," a committee official said on condition of anonymity.
Gen. Tommy Franks, head of the U.S. Central Command, issued an order last week saying the abaya is no longer required for U.S. servicewomen in Saudi Arabia "but is strongly encouraged." The requirement dates from the 1990-91 Gulf crisis when U.S. forces were first stationed in Saudi Arabia.
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