Home
U.S. suspects Iraq is allowing arms shipments to Syria
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insists air shipments from Iran to Syria are "only carrying humanitarian goods, not weapons."
By McClatchy Newspapers
That didn't take long. (March 20, 2012, by Bo Lasquis)
BAGHDAD — A diplomatic dispute over whether Iran is using Iraqi airspace to ship arms to the besieged regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has highlighted differences between the Iraqi and U.S. governments over what should happen in Syria.
U.S. officials last week raised concerns with the Iraqis that a growing number of Iranian cargo flights crossing Iraq for Syria were carrying weapons.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki denied that, saying shipments were "only carrying humanitarian goods, not weapons."
Iraq's position on the Syrian uprising has been controversial. Iraq abstained on an Arab League motion to impose sanctions on Syria, and Maliki has said he opposes forcing Assad from power, something the United States has supported.
"The killing or removal of President Bashar in any way will end with civil war, and this civil war will lead to wider alliances in the region," Maliki said. "Because we are a country that suffered from civil war of a sectarian background, we fear for the future of Syria and the whole region."
On Saturday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh said Iran had assured the Iraqi government that no weapons were being flown to Syria over Iraq.
The question of whether Iran is flying over Iraq to deliver weapons to Syria underscores the difficulties the United States faces in the region after the Obama administration's failure last year to win Iraqi agreement to let some U.S. troops remain in Iraq after a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline that Washington agreed to in 2008.
U.S. officials had argued that a residual force was needed, in part, to patrol Iraq's skies. Iraq has no air force, though it has agreed to buy a fleet of U.S.-built combat aircraft.
How many Iranian flights have crossed over Iraq to Syria is a matter of debate.
A prominent Iraqi politician with personal knowledge of the issue said that "the Iranians have 34 flights a week to Syria from various Iranian airports," and all the flights use Iraqi airspace.
He said U.S. diplomats had complained to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, but that "Maliki will have to agree (to the flights) because the Iranians will pressure him."
The politician noted that Iraq and Syria are major trading partners, and that with Turkey imposing a trade embargo on Syria, "Iraq is the lifeline to Syria now."
"If Iraq had not opened up this route, Turkey could have forced the flights to land there first for inspection of the planes," he said. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki insists air shipments from Iran to Syria are "only carrying humanitarian goods, not weapons."
By McClatchy Newspapers
That didn't take long. (March 20, 2012, by Bo Lasquis)
BAGHDAD — A diplomatic dispute over whether Iran is using Iraqi airspace to ship arms to the besieged regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad has highlighted differences between the Iraqi and U.S. governments over what should happen in Syria.
U.S. officials last week raised concerns with the Iraqis that a growing number of Iranian cargo flights crossing Iraq for Syria were carrying weapons.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki denied that, saying shipments were "only carrying humanitarian goods, not weapons."
Iraq's position on the Syrian uprising has been controversial. Iraq abstained on an Arab League motion to impose sanctions on Syria, and Maliki has said he opposes forcing Assad from power, something the United States has supported.
"The killing or removal of President Bashar in any way will end with civil war, and this civil war will lead to wider alliances in the region," Maliki said. "Because we are a country that suffered from civil war of a sectarian background, we fear for the future of Syria and the whole region."
On Saturday, Iraqi government spokesman Ali al Dabbagh said Iran had assured the Iraqi government that no weapons were being flown to Syria over Iraq.
The question of whether Iran is flying over Iraq to deliver weapons to Syria underscores the difficulties the United States faces in the region after the Obama administration's failure last year to win Iraqi agreement to let some U.S. troops remain in Iraq after a Dec. 31 withdrawal deadline that Washington agreed to in 2008.
U.S. officials had argued that a residual force was needed, in part, to patrol Iraq's skies. Iraq has no air force, though it has agreed to buy a fleet of U.S.-built combat aircraft.
How many Iranian flights have crossed over Iraq to Syria is a matter of debate.
A prominent Iraqi politician with personal knowledge of the issue said that "the Iranians have 34 flights a week to Syria from various Iranian airports," and all the flights use Iraqi airspace.
He said U.S. diplomats had complained to the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, but that "Maliki will have to agree (to the flights) because the Iranians will pressure him."
The politician noted that Iraq and Syria are major trading partners, and that with Turkey imposing a trade embargo on Syria, "Iraq is the lifeline to Syria now."
"If Iraq had not opened up this route, Turkey could have forced the flights to land there first for inspection of the planes," he said. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
