Polish troops find new French missiles in Iraq

Polish troops in Iraq have found four French-built advanced anti-aircraft missiles which according to the military were built this year, a Polish Defence Ministry spokesman told Reuters yesterday.

"Polish troops discovered an ammunition depot on September 29 near the region of Hilla and there were four French-made Roland-type missiles," Eugeniusz Mleczak said.

"It is not the first time Polish troops found ammunition in Iraq but to our surprise these missiles were produced in 2003," Mr Mleczak said.

The Roland anti-aircraft system is a short-range air defence missile in service with at least ten countries, including France and Germany.

It is mobile, usually mounted on a vehicle, and defence experts say the missiles are highly effective against aircraft attacking at low and medium altitude.

Under a strict trade embargo imposed by the United Nations, Iraq was barred form importing arms since the invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Mr Mleczak said Polish troops were notified about the missiles by a local Iraqi, who received a reward for the information.

"The ammunition depot was neutralised," said Mr Mleczak. Since early September, Poland, a staunch supporter of the US-led war in Iraq, has led a multinational force in one of four so-called stabilisation zones, in central Iraq.

In the run-up to the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq war, pilots from Britain and the United States wore down Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries with precision bombing as they patrolled no-fly zones in the north and south of the country.