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Russian Plane in Iraq for Short Visit
A Russian plane, which made a direct flight from Moscow to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, arrived at the newly reopened Saddam International Airport Sunday for a one-day visit, an Iraqi TV report said.
Upon arrival, Arnold Baker, head of the 11-member Russian oil delegation, said that he will hold talks with Iraqi oil officials to strengthen cooperation in the oil field.
Baker denounced the on-going United Nations sanctions and the unilateral imposition of air embargo on Iraq by the United States and its allies. "There is no legal justification for the air embargo," he was quoted as saying.
The plane touched down at 13:00 local time (0900 GMT) and no foreign media were informed about its arrival beforehand.
Russia, a staunch ally and the largest trading partner of Iraq, has been calling for an early removal of the U.N. sanctions, triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Moreover, Russia has held that it is unnecessary to get the authorization of the U.N. Sanctions Committee to fly any civil flights to or from Iraq.
Russia has been making efforts to get the sanctions on Iraq lifted. Iraq owes millions of dollars of debts to Russia, the successor of the former Soviet Union, and now pays it with oil.
One day after the Saddam International Airport was reopened on August 18, a Russian plane made a direct flight from Moscow to Baghdad, the first since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, to show Russia's solidarity with Iraqi people.
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