Jordan Times
Sunday, February 15, 2005
'Iraqi Airways planes grounded in Jordan part of frozen funds'
AMMAN (AFP) — Transport Minister Raed Abul Saud reiterated Saturday the Iraqi Airways planes grounded in the Kingdom since the 1991 Gulf War are considered part of millions of dollars of Iraqi assets frozen here.“The six Iraqi Airways planes parked at Queen Alia Airport since 1991 are part of the Iraqi assets frozen in Jordan,” Abul Saud told the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
Any discussions on the aircraft will be conducted through the United Nations, Abul Saud said, adding that Jordan should get around $4 million in fees from Iraq for harbouring the planes.
“Jordan will not give up its rights at all concerning this issue,” he added.
Abul Saud added that Iraqi shares in Arab Bridge Maritime Company and the Arab-Jordanian Land Transport Company would also be dealt with through the offices of the United Nations. He did not give further details.
Officials quoted by the press in August said that Jordan froze about half a billion dollars which had been deposited in its banks by the former Iraqi regime.
Independent sources estimate the amount of frozen Iraqi funds at $1 billion while banking experts say there are about 23,000 bank accounts in Jordan for Iraqi nationals and the Baghdad government.
Iraq's interim Transport Minister Bahnam Bulos said this week that his country was hoping to make the Baghdad Airport operational for scheduled flights but that planes grounded in Jordan were “unfit to fly.”
Iraqi Airways' fleet of Boeing 727s and 707s has been grounded since the 1991 US-led Gulf war that ended Iraq's occupation of Kuwait, as part of UN sanctions imposed the former Baghdad regime.
The carrier has six planes in Jordan, while others have been grounded in Tunisia and in Iran.