IRAQ FACES NEW RAIDS, U.S. SAYS.

Byline: Philip Shenon The New York Times

The Pentagon said Tuesday that Iraq had defied the United States by continuing to repair air-defense sites damaged in American missile attacks on southern Iraq and threatened another strike to knock out the sites once and for all.

``We're seeing a continuing effort to repair sites,'' said Kenneth Bacon, the Defense Department's chief spokesman. He said Washington had made clear that if Iraq rebuilt the air-defense sites in the south, thus threatening allied patrols over the flight-exclusion zone there, ``we will take action.''

Pentagon officials said President Saddam Hussein's forces were jury-rigging surface-to-air missile sites from parts salvaged from last week's attacks, and that as many as four sites appeared to be back in operation.

``He's trying to repair a variety of sites, including some of those that we hit,'' Bacon said.

As a result, the officials said, the United States is likely to launch cruise missiles within the next few days with the intention of destroying the sites.

``We have acted twice already,'' Bacon said. ``And I think you can expect that we would take whatever action is appropriate to protect our pilots.''

Asked Tuesday whether Saddam's actions could lead to more strikes, President Clinton said, ``We will evaluate them on what they do, not what they say.''

The Pentagon said the United States had issued its warnings in a series of written statements delivered through diplomatic channels, as well as through recent public statements by Defense Secretary William Perry and Gen. John Shalikashvili, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

But Iraqi forces were carrying out orders to try to rebuild sites capable of firing Russian-made SA-2 and SA-3 missiles against fighter jets patrolling southern Iraq.

The United States struck after tens of thousands of Iraqi troops marched into northern Iraq in support of one Kurdish faction in its conflict with an Iranian-backed rival faction. The move broadly expanded Iraq's influence in an area that had been considered an international ``safe haven'' against Iraqi forces after the 1991 war in the Persian Gulf.

In response, the Clinton administration launched the missile attacks and announced that it was unilaterally expanding the zone in southern Iraq where Iraqi military flights are prohibited.

Since then, the Kurds allied with Iraq have continued to seize territory once held by the rival group.