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Saudis to allow Yemeni planes to fly over |
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September 30, 2000
SAN`A, Yemen, (AP) - A Yemeni aircraft bound for Iraq took off Friday after the Saudi government reversed its earlier refusal to let it overfly Saudi Arabia, a Yemeni official said. The proposed flight had been approved by the United Nations, but comes days after French and Russian flights challenged the U.N. embargo on Iraq by failing to wait for authorization from the U.N. sanctions committee. The Saudis changed their minds and granted permission to the flight after Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called Saudi Defense Minister Prince Sultan, the Yemeni official said on condition of anonymity. Prince Sultan said the plane could cross Saudi territory on condition that it fly to Amman, Jordan, and not directly to Iraq. The Yemeni official said the Jordanians had agreed to allow the plane to overfly their territory and continue to Iraq. Jordan flew a humanitarian flight to Baghdad on Wednesday after receiving clearance from the U.N. sanctions committee in New York. The plane was initially scheduled to leave San'a airport early Friday, but was delayed after the Saudis refused to grant it permission to fly either directly across their territory to Iraq or via Jordan. The Yemeni president then called Prince Sultan. Saudi officials were not immediately available for comment. The plane is carrying Deputy Prime Minister Abdul-Kader Bajammal, other Yemeni officials, medicine and relief aid, the Yemeni official said. "This is a humanitarian step taken to show solidarity with the Iraqi people and we hope that the sanctions are lifted soon," Bajammal said before boarding the plane. The Yemeni flight received authorization Thursday after answering questions about its purpose from the United States, the U.N. sanctions committee said. In Baghdad, an Iraqi Information Ministry official said he was "surprised" by the initial Saudi move. "They (Saudis) are adding evidence of their efforts to prolong sanctions despite their false claims that they would like to see sanctions lifted," the official said on condition of anonymity. Saudi Arabia has routinely supported Arab League resolutions calling for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. The sanctions, which have caused widespread shortages and malnutrition, are widely resented in the Arab world. But the Saudis regularly vote for international resolutions that call on Iraq to abide by U.N. Security Council resolutions that require it to eliminate its weapons of mass destruction and make reparations for its seven-month occupation of Kuwait. On Sept. 22-23, France and Russia flew planes carrying humanitarian aid, officials, business executives and artists to Iraq, having informed the sanctions committee but refusing to wait for the committee's clearance. The flights were criticized by the United States, which viewed them as a violation of sanctions. Russia and France contend that humanitarian flights do not require clearance from the U.N.. The Iraqi government hailed the flights as evidence that the sanctions regime was collapsing. |