Brits keep Iraqi Airways chief executive in detention

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Authorities in the United Kingdom have decided to keep the chief executive of Iraqi Airway Company, Kifah Hassan, in detention in Britain until Wednesday (May 5, 2010). “There is no reason for such a measure,” the Iraqi Ministry of Transport said in a release on Sunday received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The first flight from Baghdad to London in 20 years ended in a farce with a plane impounded. A lawsuit was filed, spanning two decades, the UK’s longest running legal dispute, over 10 planes owned by Kuwait which were taken by Iraq during the 1990 invasion, resulting in the detention of the aircraft and the confiscation of Hassan’s passport. Lawyers for Kuwait Airlines said that Mr. Hassan would be required to detail the assets of the state run carrier before the London courts. The Iraqi Ministry of Transport said that it is surprised with the escalating and provocative behavior taken by the Kuwaiti authorities, who insist on harassing and embarrassing Iraqis wherever they attempt to open a window to the outside world. The dispute has made its way through the London courts since the aftermath of the 1990 invasion of the oil rich emirate by Iraq. Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi president, triggered the Gulf War by staging a lightning assault on Kuwait. The oil-rich emirate was liberated after a 100-hour military campaign in 1991, which Britain joined as the second largest contributor after the United States. Both countries invaded Iraq in March 2003, and toppled Saddam on April 9 of the same year. The British High Court issued the order authorizing Kuwait Airways to seize the assets of its Iraqi counterpart in 2004. Iraq admits that its officials commandeered 10 Bombardier jets in 1990, but claims that four of the aircraft were destroyed at Mosul Airport in Western bombing raids, while the remaining six were returned to Kuwait via Iran. Attempts to set up direct flights between Britain and Iraq have been interrupted since the 2003 invasion. British officials were repeatedly frustrated in efforts to get a scheduled flight service to Basra when the city was under the control of the British military. MH (S)/SR 4