Iraqi Pilgrim Flight Defies U.N. Sanctions

BAGHDAD —  A plane carrying 117 Iraqi Muslim pilgrims flew through Iraq’s Western-imposed “no-fly” zone Wednesday and landed safely in Saudi Arabia, in apparent defiance of a U.N. flight embargo.

The sanctions, imposed after Baghdad’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, ban air travel into and out of Iraq. Most of Iraq’s airspace is off limits to Iraqi aircraft due to no-fly zones enforced by U.S. and British warplanes to protect Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslim dissidents in the south from the Iraqi regime.

A United Nations resolution in December allows flights specifically arranged for Iraqi pilgrims to Mecca, but only with permission from the U.N. sanctions committee in New York. Iraq has not recognized the resolution.

Rabiya Mohammed, head of national carrier Iraqi Airways, said the government did not ask the U.N. for permission because it believes that U.N. sanctions do not explicitly forbid air travel.

The hajj, or pilgrimage to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, begins around mid-March. It is required of able Muslims at least once in a lifetime. Nearly 2 million people worldwide are expected to perform the hajj this year.

Iraq has previously used the hajj to score political points against the U.N. sanctions.

The plane, a Russian-made Ilyushin-76, landed in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, where an airport official said there were instructions to receive all planes carrying pilgrims. The Iraqis--75 men and 42 women--received their visas at the airport before leaving for the holy city of Mecca, the official said.