Iraq accuses US of intercepting jetliner
US warplanes intercepted an Iraqi civilian plane on a flight from Baghdad to Basra, a senior Iraqi official claimed today.
INA, the Iraqi state news agency, said the incident is believed to be the first of its kind involving American warplanes and Iraqi civilian aircraft.
Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz claimed three warplanes "carried out a criminal act of aggression" against an Iraqi Airways plane on May 18.
Aziz made the accusations in a letter delivered to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The US and Britain have enforced no-fly-zones over northern and southern Iraq since the end of the 1991 Gulf War.
Iraq regards the zones as violations of its territorial sovereignty and has challenged the patrols since December 1998.
Aziz’s letter said, "American warplanes followed the Iraqi Boeing 707 for 17 miles and asked the airplane crew provocative questions about the type and nationality of the airplane".
Aziz urged Annan to "condemn the daily violations and aggressions carried out by the American and British warplanes against Iraq’s sovereignty," INA reported.
Iraq resumed regular domestic flights in September 2000.
