Israel prepares with duct tape and 'missile-killers'

JERUSALEM - Israel readied two lines of defence, one a multibillion-dollar missile-killer system and the other plastic sheeting and duct tape worth about US$15 ($27), in a countdown to a US war on Iraq.

In a throwback to the 1991 Gulf War, when 39 Iraqi Scud missiles with conventional warheads rained down on Israel, people were advised to buy the materials needed to seal a room in each house against chemical or biological agents.

But there was no sense of panic as Israeli defence officials repeated a "low-probability, high-preparedness" slogan, voicing an assessment that Iraq had not deployed missiles within striking range and a Scud attack was unlikely. Defence authorities announced that a two-tier anti-ballistic missile system had been readied for action.

It comprises the Israeli-built Arrow missile, developed in a partly US-funded US$2.2 billion ($4 billion) project, and US-made Patriot missiles.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called a session of his Cabinet yesterday to review defence preparations.

In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, food and petrol were in demand.

"People have been saving things at home to brace for the worst," said Abu Tareq, a petrol station owner in the city of Qalqilya.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq