Iraq Seeks Quiet For Eclipse

To enable Iraqis to peacefully observe the last total solar eclipse of the millennium, Iraq reportedly has asked U.N. chief Kofi Annan to persuade the United States and Britain to halt overflights on August 11.

Iraq's northern city of Mosul will be among the best placed areas to view the eclipse, the state-run weekly magazine Nabed al-Shebab said Monday.

Certain parts of Mosul, 250 miles north of Baghdad, are expected to be in total darkness for up to two minutes, the magazine said.

Allied planes patrolling the northern no-fly zone in Iraq have repeatedly targeted the area around Mosul.

"Iraq has asked Kofi Annan and the world community... to halt aerial military action by the United States and Britain during this scientific and astronomical day," the magazine said.

U.S. and British planes maintain no-fly zones set up over northern and southern Iraq in 1991-92. The northern zone is intended to protect Kurds; the southern to protect Shiite Muslims.

Iraq does not recognize the no-fly zones and its air defenses have challenged the allied planes since December. The U.S. and British warplanes have responded by attacking Iraqi sites.

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