Russia's Vnukovo Airlines said it would organize a humanitarian flight to Baghdad on Friday, the company's deputy chairman Sergei Isakov told the ITAR-TASS news agency.
Four more planes carrying humanitarian aid would leave for Iraq later this month and in early November, at the request of Russian and foreign companies, Isakov said Thursday.
Isakov insisted that the flights would not violate UN sanctions against Iraq, saying the flight program had been approved by the Russian foreign ministry.
The controversial flight embargo against Iraq is increasingly being challenged by countries that do not agree with the United States and Britain on the need to maintain the sanctions.
The two countries insist that authorization from the UN sanctions committee is needed to fly to Baghdad. But China, France and Russia say non-commercial flights do not need clearance.
Humanitarian planes from various Arab countries have landed in Baghdad to test the embargo since September 27, following the example of Russia and France – MOSCOW (AFP)
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