WASHINGTON (TWT): The United States has denied a claim by Iraq that its forces shot down an unmanned Predator spy plane.

"We did not lose a Predator," said Lt. Daniel Hetlage, a Pentagon spokesman.

An Iraqi military spokesman said it had downed a Predator spy plane coming from Kuwait.

"The spy plane violated our international Iraqi airspace, which the American enemy is using to spy on our military and civilian establishments."

If the claim turned out to be true, it would be the second Predator plane to be hit by Iraq.

A first craft was destroyed in December, an event General Richard Myers, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff described as a "lucky shot".

Another Predator crashed in northern Kuwait last May.

Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries regularly target US and British warplanes enforcing a "no-fly" zone over northern and southern Iraq.

The zones, which Iraq does not recognise, were set up by the Allies after the 1991 Gulf war to protect Iraqis opposed to Saddam's rule.

Earlier, Iraqi anti-aircraft fire today downed a US pilotless Predator drone which entered the country from Kuwait, a military spokesman said.

"Our heroic air defence soldiers succeeded in downing a US intelligence plane, a Predator, coming from Kuwait," the spokesman said, quoted by the official INA news agency.

"The US surveillance plane that violated Iraq's international airspace is used by the US enemy to spy on our civilian and military installations and it is a very sophisticated plane with advanced electronic equipment," he said.

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