India may defy sanctions, send flight to Iraq

India may defy sanctions, send flight to Iraq
AGENCE FRANCE PRESS

BAGHDAD, SEPT 25: India, following the lead of Russia and France, is considering a sanctions-defying flight into Iraq, an Indian minister was quoted here as saying today. ``India is studying the possibility of sending to Iraq a plan carrying Indian personalities to support efforts to lift the embargo on this country,'' said Ajit Kumar Panja, India's minister of state for external affairs, as quoted by Iraq's official news agency, INA.

Panja, on a three-day visit to Baghdad, said he had signed a friendship agreement with Iraq foreseeing regular bilateral meetings to improve cooperation between the two countries.

The minister met Iraqi President Saddam Hussein yesterday and delivered a message from Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Panja used the occasion to denounce the embargo ``imposed on Iraq and the American-British raids against the Iraqi people'', according to INA.

French and Russian planes arrived in Baghdad over the weekend, defying the strict US interpretation of the international air embargo on Iraq. India has more than 150 contracts with Iraq valued at more than $ 280 million as part of the UN-sponsored ``oil-for-food'' programme.