Iraq's transport ministry has dissolved the national airline, Iraqi Airways, in the latest twist in a long-running dispute with Kuwait over its assertion that Iraq stole aircraft during the First Gulf War.
The dissolution is seen as an attempt to circumvent Kuwait's legal case.
Kuwait has demanded US$1.2 billion (Dh4.4bn) in reparations from the airline for the alleged theft of 10 aeroplanes and millions of dollars worth of spare parts during Saddam Hussein's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Since the Second Gulf War, Iraqi Airways has undergone an overhaul that includes launching its first international routes in the past year. Meanwhile, Kuwait has sought to freeze the company's assets worldwide.
"Iraq's cabinet decided to close Iraqi Airways and announced its bankruptcy because the company doesn't own any aeroplanes and because of the Kuwaiti government's cases raised against the company," Karim al Tamimi, a transport ministry spokesman, told the Associated Press yesterday.
"We hope in the future to replace it by two or three companies to resume its operations."
A spokesman for Iraqi Airways said he hoped to announce further details on the status of the flag carrier today.
Lawyers for Kuwait Airways denounced the latest move and said it would not deter them from seeking legal redress.
"It appears to me to be a sorry reflection of Iraq's attitude to its international commitments that liquidating its own national airline is seen as preferable to addressing those commitments," said Chris Gooding, a lawyer with the Fasken Martineau law firm.
Mr Gooding said the legal responsibility merely would be transferred from Iraqi Airways to the Iraqi government. The Iraqi authorities' "conclusion is entirely false. Any such move will not lead to the dropping of claims", he said.
"Kuwait Airways' legal team have been faced with this suicide threat - 'come any closer and I jump' - for years and has full contingency plans in place."
On Tuesday, Iraqi Airways said it had cancelled routes to the UK and Sweden after Kuwait tried last month to confiscate the airline's first plane to fly to London in 20 years.
Lawyers working for Kuwait tried to confiscate the aeroplane that made the flight but were foiled when it turned out to have been chartered from a Swedish company and not owned by Iraqi Airways.
At the time, Kifah Hassan Jabbar, the director general of Iraqi Airways, had his passport seized in the UK and was forced to stay for more than a week because of the Kuwaiti claims.
Mr Jabbar issued a statement on Tuesday about the cancellation of routes in which he criticised Iraq's government as failing to resolve the dispute with Kuwait. Iraq has said in the past that it repeatedly called for talks over the case to solve it in a "friendly way" but that the Kuwaitis did not respond.
* with agencies
igale@thenational.ae
THE BIO
Age: 30
Favourite book: The Power of Habit
Favourite quote: "The world is full of good people, if you cannot find one, be one"
Favourite exercise: The snatch
Favourite colour: Blue
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Family reunited
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.
She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.
She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.
The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.
She was held in her native country a year later.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
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The specs
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
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Rating: 3.5/5
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Business Insights
- Canada and Mexico are significant energy suppliers to the US, providing the majority of oil and natural gas imports
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