Actions taken to prepare for new security plan
BAGHDAD -- Iraq indefinitely halted all flights to and from Syria and closed a border crossing with Iran as the government prepares for a new security crackdown aimed at crushing violence in the capital and surrounding regions, a member of parliament and an airport official said yesterday.
The airport official said flights to and from Syria would be canceled for at least two weeks and that service had been interrupted on Tuesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to reveal the information.
Hassan al-Sunneid, a legislator and member of the parliament Defense and Security Committee, said the move "was in preparation for the security plan. The state will decide when the flights will resume."
The actions were seen as a signal to both countries not to interfere in Iraq's affairs as US and Iraqi forces prepare for the major crackdown on armed groups in the capital.
Syria is believed to be harboring former Ba'ath Party officials who support the Sunni insurgency and has been accused of allowing foreign fighters to slip across its border with Iraq. And US officials have complained that Iran smuggles weapons to Shi'ite extremists who have killed Americans and provides Shi'ite militia with training and support.
Syrian authorities yesterday denied reports arising elsewhere that it had halted Iraqi Airways flights but said it would bar landings by Iraqi airliners lacking safety requirements or those arriving without advance permission.
The official Syrian news agency, SANA, said the measure was agreed to last week by the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority after Syrian technical teams found that some Iraqi planes did not meet safety codes, or that they entered Syrian airspace without notice or permission from Syrian authorities.
Iraqi Airways is now the only airline linking the Syrian and Iraqi capitals.
The UN says about one million Iraqis have fled to Syria, which has become the refuge of choice because of its relaxed entry regulations for Arabs, the relatively low cost of living and availability of schools and health care.
Sunneid refused to confirm reports that Syrian border crossings also would be closed, saying only that "more decisions would be taken." He said the Sheeb border crossing with Iran "also was closed in preparation for the (security) plan."
Meanwhile, car bombs struck mostly Shi'ite targets in Baghdad yesterday, and the bodies of three Sunni professors and a student were found days after they were seized while leaving their campus in a Shi'ite part of the city.
At least 43 people were reported killed across Iraq, including a US soldier.
Maamoun Abdel-Hadi said he was standing with a friend near his car when a mortar shell fell on the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah in northern Baghdad. The area was hit by nine mortar shells that damaged houses, shops, and streets, killing six people and wounding 20, police and hospital officials said.