Arab Flights Flock to Iraq Punching Holes in UN Air Embargo
October 1, 2000 - 0:0
BAGHDAD After Jordan and Yemen, Egypt, Morocco and Sudan have joined the rush to fly into sanctions-hit Baghdad in a bid to force the collapse of a decade-old UN air embargo, AFP said.
At Saddam International Airport, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz on Saturday urged the restoration of normal flights.
"I think it is time for a return to a normal situation," he told reporters.
Aziz was at the airport to see off Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdel Qader Bajammal who arrived Friday aboard a Yemenia flight, the first from Sanaa to Baghdad since 1990.
Bajammal called for joint Arab action on Iraq as he boarded the second Arab plane to have landed in Baghdad in a decade without UN permission.
Aziz said the organization of flights without UN approval were "generally going well".
"There are obstacles to certain initiatives, under the influence of the United States," Aziz said referring to a French flight which failed to take off on Friday as planned.
At Saddam International Airport, Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz on Saturday urged the restoration of normal flights.
"I think it is time for a return to a normal situation," he told reporters.
Aziz was at the airport to see off Yemen's Foreign Minister Abdel Qader Bajammal who arrived Friday aboard a Yemenia flight, the first from Sanaa to Baghdad since 1990.
Bajammal called for joint Arab action on Iraq as he boarded the second Arab plane to have landed in Baghdad in a decade without UN permission.
Aziz said the organization of flights without UN approval were "generally going well".
"There are obstacles to certain initiatives, under the influence of the United States," Aziz said referring to a French flight which failed to take off on Friday as planned.