Iraq accuses Iran of using its planes

BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) -- A senior Iraqi official has accused Iran of using dozens of its planes sent to Tehran for safekeeping during the 1991 Gulf War.

"Iran is using our airliners held since the 1991 aggression in domestic flights," the al-Zawra weekly newspaper quoted Undersecretary of Transport Jamil Ibrahim as saying.

He said Iraq had repeatedly asked Iran for information about the planes but Iran had ignored the requests.

Iraq ordered its aircraft to foreign airports during the Gulf War that drove Iraqi troops from Kuwait.

Of the 37 planes that were sent abroad, five Boeings and 22 Russian-built Ilyushins are thought to have ended up in Tehran. Six Boeings are said to be in Amman and four in Tunis.

Iraqi Airways is grounded as a result of United Nations sanctions that were imposed in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.

Ibrahim repeated that Iraq had resumed talks with Europe's Airbus Industrie with a view to buying 20 aircraft. He said that when talks were suspended in 1990 Iraq had planned to purchase only five aircraft.

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