Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Tuesday that Israel suspected Iraq has been transferring chemical and biological weapons to Israel's arch-foe Syria to hide them from U.N. inspectors. Sharon, in an interview with Israel's Channel Two television, said his comments were based on unconfirmed information and he gave no evidence to support the allegation against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

He said Israel was trying to verify the information.

Sharon also told Channel Two that in the event of a war U.S. forces would operate in western Iraq and try to prevent missile or air attacks against Israel.

Israel and Syria have been in an official state of war for decades.

Syria, which took part in the 1991 Gulf War that drove Iraq from Kuwait, has since rebuilt ties with Baghdad after decades of rivalry. Nonetheless, to some surprise, Damascus cast its U.N. Security Council vote last month in favor of resolution 1441, which demands that Iraq disarm or face a possible war.

ISRARL STEPS PREPARATIONS FOR GULF WAR

Israel has stepped up preparations for a possible U.S. war against Iraq, scheduling joint exercises with U.S. forces and gas mask lessons for schoolchildren.

Israeli media reported Israel would go on high alert from January 15 in anticipation that hostilities would erupt in the Gulf some time between January 27 and February 26.

The Defense Ministry would not confirm the date, but said Israeli security forces have been preparing for a possible Iraqi attack.

Israel is concerned that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein will respond to any U.S. strike by launching missiles armed with chemical or biological warheads against the Jewish state which has been fighting a Palestinian uprising since September 2000.

Some 1,000 U.S. troops are expected in Israel this week for an exercise involving U.S.-made Patriot missiles, which were largely ineffective in intercepting the 39 Scud missiles that Iraq fired at the Jewish state in the 1991 Gulf War.

The Patriot has since been upgraded and Israel has developed and deployed the Arrow anti-missile system, designed to intercept Scuds at a higher altitude.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Israeli looks at special gas masks for asthmatics, as Israelis collect gas masks at an army distribution center in Tel Aviv on December 22, 2002 (Havakuk Levison/Reuters)