Baghdad has decided to close down state-owned Iraqi Airways in the face of a decades-old financial dispute with Kuwait that prompted the seizure of one of its aircraft last month, the transport ministry said yesterday.
“The Cabinet decided yesterday [Tuesday] to wind up the Iraqi company,” Iraqi Ministry of Transportation spokesman Aqil Kawthar said.
“The decision was taken because of the numerous acts of harassment that the company has faced from Kuwait that have prevented its planes from taking on fuel and food at various airports,” he said.
“The transport ministry will carry out the decision by the council of ministers, even though we disagree with it,” he said, without giving details on whether a new company would be formed.
An aide to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was present at the Cabinet meeting where the decision was taken, confirmed the dissolution of the airline.
The decision to dissolve Iraqi Airways came a day after the airline announced it was dropping its services to Sweden and Britain because of the “escalation” of the legal battle with Kuwait.
Kuwait Airways says Iraqi Airways owes it US$1.2 billion, a dispute dating back to former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The emirate says 10 of its planes, as well as aircraft parts, were plundered after its airport was seized during the invasion.
Last month, the airline made its first commercial flight to London in 20 years, only for a lawyer for the Kuwaiti authorities to try to seize the plane on landing.
The lawyer for state-owned Kuwait Airways said last month the airline had obtained an order from the High Court in London on April 27 that included freezing the assets of Iraqi Airways worldwide “subject to frequent judicial review.”
Meanwhile, the Iraqi election commission said it was sending the final results of the March 7 elections to the Supreme Court for certification.
Commission spokesman Qassim al-Aboudi said the results were to be sent yesterday. He did not say when their certification was expected, but once they are certified, it will clear a major obstacle to the formation of the new government.
Al-Aboudi said the commission had rejected all appeals of the results by candidates, which paved the way for submitting the tally to the court.
A Sunni-backed bloc won the most seats in the 325-member parliament, but fell far short of a majority.
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