WASHINGTON – U.S.-British coalition aircraft dropped propaganda leaflets Saturday over two cities in southern Iraq, telling Iraqis of radio frequencies broadcasting messages meant to encourage army opposition to President Saddam Hussein and offering information about United Nations weapons inspectors.
The U.S. Central Command said the air drops were the eighth in three months. Air crews dropped 240,000 leaflets, the command said.
A release from the command's headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., said the pre-dawn airdrops were over Al Amarah, 165 miles southeast of Baghdad, and half an hour later over As Samawah, 130 miles southeast of the capital.
Both cities are within the southern Iraq region patrolled by U.S. and British planes to keep Iraqi military aircraft on the ground. The flight-interdiction zone was set up to protect the region's Shiite Muslim population, which has been targeted many times by Saddam's soldiers.
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