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Iraq To Reclaim Its Air Fleet
by Nada Omran
BAGHDAD (IslamOnline) - The Iraqi government has initiated diplomatic efforts to retrieve its air carriers which it sent to Tunis and Iran on the eve of the Gulf War in 1991 fearing a massive air strike.
The recent visit by Kamal Kharazi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, to Baghdad has been seen as a positive and important step in that endeavor, said the Iraqi newspaper al-Rafideen, on Tuesday, adding that Tunisian officials did not object to returning the four Iraqi commercial airplanes in their possession.
Iraq hopes to renew its fleet by adding 20 more Airbus planes but is faced by hurdles brought on by economic sanctions against the country. It has 27 planes in Iran, five of which are Boeing. All those in Tunis, and another six in Jordan, are also Boeing.
The Iraqi government has decided to resume local flights between cities by using military airplanes, modified for commercial use.
As a part of breaking the sanctions, the Baghdad Annual International Show is expected to open on Wednesday with 45 Arab and non-Arab countries participating.
The event is considered one of the largest shows organized under the sanctions against the country, said Mohamad Mahdi Saleh, the Iraqi Trade Minister.
He said the number of participants is getting close to that before the sanctions and that there would be 1,554 companies represented, compared to 960 companies last year. Some of these companies are representing independent parties from Saudi Arabia, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Kazakhstan, and Slovenia.
The high level of Arab participation in the show this year reflected the Arab countries' desire to strengthen trade and economic relations with Iraq, said Saleh.
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