Iraq Says It Will Keep British Airways Jet
Iraqi Airways said Tuesday it will not release a British Airways jumbo jet held in Kuwait city until British Airways sends back some Iraqi Airways engines being serviced in Britain.
Sources at the International Air Transport Assn., or IATA, said that returning the engines was out of the question since it would amount to a violation of U.N. sanctions against Iraq for its Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait.
IATA’s 200 members, holding their annual assembly in Geneva, urged Iraq on Monday to release all passengers, airline employees and aircraft. British Airways said that 76 of its plane’s 400 passengers, 33 crew members and four airline employees are still stranded in Iraq and Kuwait.
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