Iraq Urges Annan to Condemn US for Intercepting Iraqi Civilian Plane

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz Tuesday urged United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to condemn the United States and Britain for their warplanes intercepting an Iraqi civilian plane, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

In a message sent to Annan on the interception incident, Aziz, also acting foreign minister, said "Three US warplanes intercepted a Boeing 707 passenger plane belonging to Iraqi Airways at 11:44 a.m. (0744 GMT) on May 18. The plane was carrying civilians from Baghdad to Basra."

The US warplanes tracked down the Iraqi civilian plane for 17 miles and their pilots kept harassing the captain of the plane with questions on his nationality and the type of his plane, he added.

The U.S. move violated Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity and threatened the lives of a large number of innocent civilian passengers, he said, adding that the action went counter to the U.N. Charter and international laws.

He stressed that the aggressive act that endangered the world peace and security was committed by two permanent members of the U. N. Security Council, namely the United States and Britain.

Aziz called on Annan to bear his responsibility for such an aggression, saying that "you should live up to the responsibility entrusted to you by the U.N. Charter and put an end to the daily aggressions against Iraq."

Iraq resumed its domestic flights on two routes - one between Baghdad and the southern city of Basra and one between Baghdad and the northern city of Mansour - on November 5 last year after a decade-long suspension.

Since the U.S. and Britain launched the Desert Fox Operation air strikes against Iraq in December 1998, confrontations have often erupted between Iraq and U.S. and Britain, whose warplanes enforce the two no-fly zones in southern and northern Iraq, and Iraq.

The two no-fly zones were imposed by the U.S.-led Western allies following the 1991 Gulf War with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shi'ite Muslims in the south against possible attacks by Iraqi government forces.กก

Iraq does not recognize the air restriction zones, saying the imposition was not authorized by U.N. authorization.






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