WORLD
IRAQI AIRWAYS TO BE CLOSED FOLLOWING BANKRUPTCY
The Iraqi government has said it will close the state-owned Iraqi Airways after declaring it bankrupt.
Iraq`s transportation ministry told reporters the airline would be closed following a damaging dispute with Kuwait over war reparations.
Kuwait Airways says the Iraqi flag carrier owes it about $1.2bn for aircraft and plane parts taken during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
All scheduled Iraqi Airways flights have been cancelled.
They include weekly flights between Baghdad and London, and flights from Baghdad to a number of other destinations in the Middle East, including Tehran, Damascus and Cairo.
The ministry blamed “harassment” from Kuwait for the airline`s failure.
Last month, lawyers acting for Kuwaiti authorities tried to have an Iraqi Airlines plane confiscated while at London`s Gatwick Airport.