Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 3, 1991 TAG: 9102030122
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: AMMAN, JORDAN LENGTH: Short
The Iranian government flatly refused a personal request from Saddam for the return of about 90 Iraqi aircraft that have been flown to Iran. Instead, it again demanded that Iraq withdraw from Kuwait.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, in two days of talks with Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Sadoun Hammadi, underlined the Iran's decision that the pilots and planes, which include top-line MiG-29 fighters and Su-24 bombers, will remain impounded until the end of the Persian Gulf war, the Iranian news agency reported.
"The only solution to the war is an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait and the withdrawal of all foreign forces from the region," the news agency quoted Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani as saying after meeting Hammadi and receiving a personal letter from Saddam.
Later, in talks with visiting Algerian Foreign Minister Said Ahmed Ghozali, Rafsanjani said: "We see Muslims being killed and their resources destroyed through an arrogant plot with international justification. Unfortunately, this condition arose from a wrong and miscalculated move, providing an opportunity for enemies of Islam."
Velayati was quoted as telling the Iraqi envoy that Iranian officials are unhappy the planes "arrived without any prior consultation," suggesting that Baghdad had ordered the pilots deliberately to seek refuge in Iran in the hope of using the planes later in the conflict.
by CNB