The United States on Friday warned air travelers taking advantage of an increasing number of flights into Iraq to avoid the so-called northern and southern "no-fly" zones and stick to the narrow three-degree latitude band in the middle of the country.
The State Department said the growing number of humanitarian flights into Iraq had raised concerns about the safety of all Iraqi airspace, but especially the no-fly zones created in 1996.
"Recent humanitarian flights to Baghdad have heightened our continuing concern for the safety of aircraft operating anywhere within Iraqi territory or airspace," spokesman Richard Boucher said in a statement.
"We are particularly concerned because of aggressive Iraqi activities south of 33 degrees north latitude and north of 36 degrees north latitude," he said, referring to the delineation of the no-fly zones.
"It is important that any foreign aircraft that do fly to or from Iraq avoid these areas and proceed only through the safest possible air corridors between 33 degrees and 36 degrees north latitude," Boucher added.
Outside of that narrow band, he said Iraqi ground forces had deployed large numbers of anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles that "routinely fire" on US and British planes patrolling the no-fly zones.
Washington and London say the no-fly zones are enforced to prevent Baghdad from launching air attacks on its neighbors or unruly ethnic minorities.
A senior State Department official declined to comment on speculation that Washington had issued the warning in frustration over the growing number of flights into Baghdad that some believe are weakening UN sanctions against the regime of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
However, while the United States maintains the sanctions are holding, it is known to be vexed by countries flouting a disputed requirement that flights into Iraq need UN approval.
Since Baghdad's Saddam International Airport, shut after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, was reopened on August 17, more than 40 planes have landed there, at least 16 of them since Tuesday.
In addition, Iraq has announced plans to restart domestic air service on Sunday with flights between Baghdad and Mosul, 340 kilometers (210 miles) to the north, and Basra, 440 kilometers (275 miles) to the south-east.
Both Basra and Mosul lie within the no-fly zones – WASHINGTON (AFP)
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