The strike on three missile systems about six miles (10 kilometres) from Mosul came amid steps to lay the groundwork for possible US-led ground operations in the country.

But Hoon insisted to reporters in Manama after visiting sailors aboard the Royal Navy frigate HMS Chatham that the attack was not part of such preparations.

"No, it's not. It's wholly consistent with our responsibilities underSecurity Council resolutions providing protection to people on the ground under the northern and southern no-fly zones," he said, standing beside the Chatham.

The US European Command said the fighter jets used precision-guided weapons to engage missile launchers in response to Iraqi threats to coalition forces.

"If there are any kinds of weapons there that threaten our forces then clearly it's self-defence. We are entirely legally entitled to deal with them and that is all that has happened," Hoon said.

US and British aircraft have been enforcing no-fly zones imposed by London and Washington since after the 1991 Gulf War, with the declared aim of protecting the Shiites of southern Iraq and Kurds in the north.

The zones are not recognized by Iraq.

Also Tuesday, other warplanes in the US-British coalition bombed a surface-to-air missile site near Basra in southern Iraq. The missiles were deemed a threat to coalition aircraft, the US military said.

The northern strike, the first in that region in three weeks, came as the Turkish government prepared to ask parliament to approve a motion allowing the United States to use Turkey as a springboard into northern Iraq in case of war.

Hoon, on a tour of the Gulf region, said Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had been given "every opportunity" to eliminate his alleged weapons of mass destruction.

"And if he continues to refuse to cooperate then inevitably in order to ensure that Iraq no longer poses that threat ... we will have to see Saddam Hussein removed from his position in Iraq," said Hoon, who was expected to leave for Qatar early Wednesday.

He had arrived in Bahrain from Kuwait, where British and US land forces are massing ahead of a possible war with Iraq.

Several Royal Naval and support vessels are docked in Bahrain, which is also home to the US Fifth Fleet.

The Royal Navy says about 40 percent of its fighting and auxiliary ships, as well as some 9,000 sailors, Royal Marines and airmen, are now deployed in the Middle East region.

"I think it's clear they want to put their training and professionalism, of which we're all very proud, into action," Hoon said.