The US and British navies are more worried about al-Qaeda strikes on ships in the event of war with Iraq than any threat from Saddam Hussein, the deputy allied sea commander said yesterday.
British Rear Admiral David Snelson said air patrols over the so-called "no-fly" zones and sanctions-enforcing sea patrols have long since neutralised many of the threats that Iraq could present to the approximately 130 coalition ships positioned off its shore.
But commanders fear Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network could respond to war in the Gulf with suicide strikes against ships, like those against the US warship Cole in October 2000 and the French merchant vessel Limburg last year.
In both cases, militants are thought to have approached warships near land on tiny boats and detonated explosives.
Seventeen American sailors were killed on the Cole.
"At the moment that is the threat that is uppermost in our minds," said Admiral Snelson, who commands the British sea contingent in the Gulf and is deputy to the American commander of coalition navies.
"They certainly have had plans to attack ships at sea. We know that because they've done it, and from debriefs of al-Qaeda operatives," he said.
"We must assume that there is a possibility that al-Qaeda will take action against British interests if we take action against Saddam Hussein. I have to assume it will get worse."
The US and Britain have taken widely publicised measures to protect their vessels at sea throughout the build-up of forces in the Gulf. - (Reuters)