*EPF202 08/14/01
Defense Department Report, August 14: Iraq Air Strike; China
(Fire control site bombed, Pentagon official says) (400)

U.S. WARPLANES BOMB IRAQI FIRE CONTROL SITE

U.S. Air Force F-16 aircraft have struck a fire control radar site located near An Nasiriyah, about 170 miles southeast of Baghdad, a Pentagon spokesman says.

Navy Rear Admiral Craig Quigley said during the regular Defense Department briefing that the site that was struck August 14 helps Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries launch surface-to-air missiles at coalition aircraft patrolling over the southern no-fly zone. The warplanes returned to base safely, Quigley said.

Quigley said the air strike at about 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT) was the second in less than a week aimed at degrading Iraqi air defenses. A major sortie of coalition warplanes struck at three Iraqi integrated air defense sites August 10.

"If we can degrade the capability to lessen the risk to coalition air crews that is indeed the goal," Quigley said.

EP-3 REIMBURSEMENT OFFER TO CHINA REMAINS ON THE TABLE

Quigley said the United States offer to reimburse the Chinese government for some of the expenses incurred during the detention of a 24-member Navy reconnaissance aircrew is still on the table, though apparently the Chinese government does not consider it large enough.

"We came up with what we thought was a fair and reasonable amount of money for the services and support that was rendered that was part and parcel of the events following the accident," Quigley said. "That offer remains on the table. Clearly, the Chinese do not agree that that is a fair and reasonable figure, but we do."

Quigley has declined to specify how much money the U.S. government offered to pay China following the collision of a Chinese F-8 fighter jet and a Navy EP-3E reconnaissance aircraft over the South China Sea April 1. China had sought $1 million from the United States for costs of housing, feeding and overseeing the aircrew it detained for 11 days.

Published news accounts placed the U.S. offer at slightly more than $34,500, but no official source has confirmed those reports.

The reimbursement offer has been transmitted to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and U.S. diplomats met late August 13 with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials to discuss it, Quigley said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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