Israel says US to launch attack on Iraq in May

Israeli defence experts predict that the United States will launch an attack on Iraq in May, after US President Gorge Bush branded Iraq, Iran and North Korea an axis of evil, ABC Radio Australia News reports. The military experts, quoted by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, say the Pentagon has received permission to start preparations for an offensive against Iraq as the second phase of Washington's global war on terror after Afghanistan. The Israelis say the Americans have already started mustering the necessary troops and were coordinating with the Iraqi opposition. The paper says Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer will ask the US administration to coordinate its offensive with the Israeli leadership.

Henry L. Marconi PRAVDA.Ru Sydney