Pilgrim Flights Violate ‘No-Fly’ Zone

Iraq is violating a U.S.-patrolled “no-fly” zone, using military helicopters to ferry pilgrims home from the border with Saudi Arabia, but the United States has said it will tolerate the flights through the zone in southern Iraq because of their humanitarian nature. The official Iraqi News Agency said the operation will continue for a few days “to transport sick, old and tired pilgrims to the places where they live.” The flights also violated a northern “no-fly” zone. The passengers were on the annual Muslim pilgrimage, or hajj, to holy sites in Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, Iraq flew pilgrims from a military air base in Baghdad to Saudi Arabia. The “no-fly” zones were imposed after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.