``We say frankly now, that any violation of Iraqi airspace will be met by Iraqi fire,'' Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan said in an interview yesterday on the pro-Iraq Qatari television network Al-Jazeera.

He said the `no-fly' zones set up in 1992 to protect Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from government attack were not authorised by the United Nations and amounted to `flagrant' interference in the affairs of Iraq.

Asked why Baghdad had not fired upon patrols before, Ramadan said, ``Each time has its circumstances. When you want to start a battle, you have to choose the right moment and the right circumstances''.

The network, which was granted taped interviews of President Saddam Hussein during the US airstrikes on Iraq last week, broadcast Ramadan's statement a fewhours after Iraq said its anti-aircraft guns had repulsed `enemy' warplanes.

Iraq's latest warning could further add fuel to the fire raging in the Gulf after the US and Britain jointly launched an aerial onslaught on Baghdad for allegedly not cooperating with UN arms inspectors.

``Enemy warplanes attacked an Iraqi air defence installation at around 11:35 am (1405 IST). Iraqi gunners responded, forcing them to ditch their bombs blindly before they continued on their way,'' official INA news agency said.

A US military spokesman later confirmed that planes flew into Iraqi air space from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and attacked an air defence installation before coming under fire in mid-morning, without giving further details.Two British tornado jets saw Iraqi ground fire during a patrol, but it was not considered a threat, he said.

``The pilots reported seeing explosions approximately five miles to their rear as they exited the no-fly zone,'' US army major Paul Phillips said in Washington.

``They were notrequired to take evasive action. As far as I can tell the crew noted fire in the distance. That's all''.

The Iraqi position will make it difficult for their planes to go on routine missions besides making it necessary for the two allies to formulate an adequate response to Baghdad's stand.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi TV station owned by Saddam's son Uday, which was damaged during the US bombing, resumed broadcasting last night.

BAGHDAD:Iraq on Sunday said an Arab summit should only be held if it is prepared to call for a complete lifting of UN sanctions and issue a strong condemnation of US and British air raids on Iraq. ``If an Arab summit takes places, the minimum stand it should take is a condemnation of the American and British position and action on the Arab level to break the embargo,'' said the official Babel newspaper, run by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's son Uday. ``If the summit is held purely for form's sake, it would be better not to hold it at all,'' said the daily. The paperadded that if Kuwait were to attend such a summit ``it would try to torpedo it and use its influence to ensure (the summit) did not take any resolutions not approved by its American masters.'' The Aththawra daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Baath party, said any Arab summit should ``work as hard for a lifting of sanctions on Iraq (as it does) to lift those imposed on Libya and Sudan.''

The Arab league has called a meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday to discuss holding a full Arab summit over the British and US missile strikes on Iraq. Iraq has been under un sanctions since its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and the embargo cannot be lifted until UN weapons inspectors declare the country free of weapons of mass destruction.