Iraqi President Receives Plane as Gift from QatarIraqi President Saddam Hussein has received a Boeing 747 passenger plane as a gift from Sheikh Hamad bin Ali Al-Thani, head of the Qatari Saqar Airways, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported November 16.Al-Thani, who arrived in Iraq by the same plane on November 16, was quoted by INA as saying that this personal gift is a sign of solidarity with the Iraqi leadership and people. However, he denied that the gift has any political implications. "It only reflects my sincere love of the Iraqi people," he said. Iraq has been under sweeping United Nations sanctions ever since it invaded Kuwait in August 1990. Qatar is among the Gulf countries which have resumed full diplomatic relations with Iraq. Saddam met with Al-Thani afterwards and extended thanks for the gift. Saddam, meanwhile, has ordered to present the plane to the Iraqi Airways, which has to use refitted helicopter planes for domestic flights, as there is only one passenger plane left in the sanctions-hit country. Some 30 passenger planes subordinate to the Iraqi Airways are now stranded in Jordan, Iran, Libya and Tunisia and are waiting for permission to return to Iraq. In January 1991, just before the Gulf War broke out, Iraq sent the planes to these countries to avoid military attacks from the United States-led coalition forces. The planes have since remained in these countries and out of Iraq's possession. |
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