IRAQ MISSILE PLANT BLAST KILLS HUNDREDS, REPORT SAYS

As many as 700 Iraqis and Egyptions were killed last month in an explosion at a secret missile center near the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, a British newspaper reported Wednesday. The Independent said the Aug. 17 blast started a fire that took firefighting planes nearly a week to extinguish. It said no reports of the disaster had appeared in the official Iraqi news media.