Mixed response from Iraqi politicians to downed Iranian drone

Mar 17, 2009, 12:52 GMT

Baghdad - News that the US military had shot down an Iranian unmanned drone over Iraq drew mixed response from Iraqi politicians on Tuesday.

US military sources Monday night confirmed to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that they had shot down an Iranian military drone over Iraq on February 25. On Tuesday an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman told reporters in Tehran that he was unaware of the 'vague' report.

Wael Abdel-Latif, a member of parliament with the Iraqi National List, called on the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs to issue a statement condemning the Iranian plane's violation of Iraqi airspace.

'This was a violation of Iraq's sovereignty,' he told dpa. 'The idea of national sovereignty is predicated on mutual respect between neighbouring countries, including not violating each other's airspace.'

Abdel-Latif, a Shiite Muslim, sits in parliament as a representative of the Iraqi National List, a coalition of Sunni, Shiite, and wholly secular groups such as the Iraqi Communist Party. He served as minister of provincial affairs in the Interim Iraqi Government after the 2003 US-led invasion.

Taha Dara, a member of parliament with Iraq's ruling United Iraqi List, a coalition of Shiite political parties, acknowledged that the drone's presence over Iraq was a violation of the country's sovereignty, but dismissed its importance.

'This was a normal day,' he told dpa. 'Neighbouring countries, notably Turkey, are constantly violating Iraqi airspace.'

According to Turkish and Israeli press reports, the Turkish military has been using Israeli-made Heron unmanned drones to find Kurdish rebels hiding in the mountains of northern Iraq for at least a year.

The Israeli company Elbit Systems won a 10 million US dollar contract to lease the drones to Turkey in 2004, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

'Iran is working for the security and stability of Iraq,' Dara said. 'The positive atmosphere that prevails in relations between the two countries is the safest way to deal with these situations.'

Osama al-Najafi, a member of parliament with the Iraqi National List and former minister of industry, was more critical of Iraq's close relations with Iran.

'Iran has so many eyes in Iraq, it doesn't need to send a drone to spy,' he told