Iraq Urges UNIKOM to Report US, British Airspace ViolationsIraq on Thursday urged the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) to perform its duties and report the almost daily violations of its airspace by US and British warplanes, the official Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Said al-Sahaf made the appeal in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the INA said. Sahaf also demanded Annan's intervention to stop the armed patrols over southern and northern Iraq by US and British jets since the 1991 Gulf War, the INA said. "The UN should take legal procedures to stop these aggressions," Sahaf said in the letter. US and British planes have been patrolling the two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from possible attacks by Baghdad. Iraq has never recognized the air exclusion zones for lack of clear UN authorization and has criticized the UNIKOM for remaining silent over Western planes' patrols over the no-fly zones. The UNIKOM has been patrolling the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait since a US-led multinational coalition force ousted Iraqi troops from Kuwait in 1991 after a seven-month occupation. It is charged with reporting any violations of either nation's territory to the UN Security Council. |
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