14 Oct 2012
(MENAFN) The Czech Republic has agreed to sell 28 L-159 combat jets to Iraq for about USD1 billion, as Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki faces pressure from the US to stop Irani arms from reaching Syria, Reuters reported.
The country will buy 24 new L-159 aircraft made by Czech company Aero Vodochody and four planes from the Czech military’s stock.
Iraq is expected to receive the first plane within seven months of the contract’s signing, while the other deliveries should start in two years.
Washington has been complaining about the transportation of Irani arms through Iraqi airspace to help ally Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in his battle to end a 19-month-old uprising.
Iraq has had no real air force since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, and Baghdad says it will not be able to defend its airspace until 2020.
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