Jordanian intellectuals announced Sunday that they plan a flight to Baghdad to protest the international air embargo in force against Iraq since 1990.
"We expect all 168 seats to be filled on the plane, which is from the private company Jordan Aviation," said Fakhri Kawar, president of the Writers Union, which is organizing the flight.
He called on "all Jordanian intellectuals to buy tickets" to help finance the effort, which he said will be "the first initiative by Arab writers to break the embargo imposed on Iraq."
He told AFP that Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb has given his verbal agreement for the flight.
The flight will leave Jordan on Tuesday and return later in the day, leaving the intellectuals in Baghdad to attend a poetry festival, Kawar said.
Jordan on September 27 became the first Arab country to defy the air embargo when an official delegation flew into Baghdad.
Abu Ragheb traveled by plane to Baghdad on November 1, in the first visit to Iraq by a top Arab leader since the 1991 Gulf war -- AMMAN (AFP)
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