Iraq Passenger Flights Defy No-Fly Zones

B A G H D A D, Iraq, Nov. 5, 2000 -- Iraq sent domestic passenger flightscarrying 154 people into skies patrolled by U.S. and Britishwarplanes today, the first challenge of its kind to the no-flyzones that Iraq considers infringements on its sovereignty.

Two planes left Baghdad at 1 p.m. local time bound for Basra in thesouthern no-fly zone and Mosul in the northern zone, the officialIraqi News Agency reported. They returned safely to Baghdad aboutfour hours later, the agency said.

Resumption of Service

Iraq, which says the flights mark the resumption of regularpassenger service to the cities, used Russian-made military cargoplanes for the flights — an Antonov with 42 passengers to Mosul andan Ilyushin with 114 passengers to Basra.

The resumption of the flights, which Iraq announced on Oct. 30,came nearly a decade after Iraq’s fleet of 15 Boeing airliners wasmoved to Jordan, Iran and Tunisia to escape bombing during the 1991Gulf War. They remain abroad.

Passengers aboard the inaugural flights included officials andjournalists who returned with the planes to Baghdad. Thousands ofpeople had gathered to welcome the planes on arrival in Basra andMosul, according to INA.

Transport Minister Ahmed Murtada Ahmed Khalil said flights willtake off daily to the two cities.

U.S.: Violations Since 1998

The United States says Iraqi military planes have violated thezones often with quick in-and-out forays since December 1998, whenIraq began challenging the patrols. The new challenges — though inmilitary aircraft — marked the first civilian flights into thezone.

The U.S.-British patrols bar fixed-wing Iraqi aircraft orhelicopters from entering the zones, but there was no word today on whether Iraq had given Britain and the United Statesadvance notice of the domestic flights.

“We will continue to monitor closely any Iraqi aviation todetermine whether it poses a threat to our forces, Iraq’s neighborsor the Iraqi people,” a U.S. State Department official saidspeaking on condition of anonymity. “We reiterate that the Iraqisshould notify the U.N. of all civilian flight schedules and routesno less than 48 hours in advance of each flight.”

In Egypt, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf saidafter meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that “these flightswill continue … since the aim of these flights is to destroy theAmerican-British criminal act of imposing the no-fly zones.”

Are No-Fly Zones Legal?

The United States and Britain maintain the no-fly zones areneeded to protect Kurdish and Shiite Muslim minorities from Iraqiforces. Iraq says the zones, which are not mandated by the UnitedNations, violate its sovereignty and international law. Iraq hasbeen firing missiles and anti-aircraft artillery at the U.S. andBritish warplanes.

The resumption of domestic flights follows the arrival inBaghdad of dozens of international flights from non-governmentalorganizations and foreign countries seeking an end to U.N.sanctions imposed to punish Iraq for invading Kuwait in 1990.

The U.S. State Department warned Friday that foreign aircraftflying into Iraq should avoid the no-fly zones because of“aggressive Iraqi activities” in these areas.

Spokesman Richard Boucher said aircraft flying anywhere in Iraqcould face danger but that the no-fly zones are of a particularconcern. But Boucher stopped short of saying whether U.S. andBritish warplanes policing the zones would intercept Iraqipassenger planes.

Iraqi Airways, the country’s national carrier, is charging $13per passenger to Basra, 343 miles south of Baghdad, and $11 perpassenger to Mosul, 250 miles north of the capital.