First, British Airways decided to suspend its flights to Saudi Arabia for security reasons. It was said, based on “reliable intelligence reports,” that the British aviation industry was in danger and that a civilian plane might be attacked. Then came the news that the very same airline was planning to operate flights into both Baghdad and Basra. These must surely be two of the most lawless and insecure places in the world.
The absurdity, however, doesn’t end here but goes even further with the publication by a British company of a picture of a man carrying a shoulder-held anti-aircraft rocket launcher. It should come as no surprise that the man was wearing the Palestinian headdress. The picture also shows a laser-guided device that generates heat in order to direct the rocket away from the targeted plane.
It was all clear and simple. The purpose behind all this was to create confusion in the international airline industry by claiming that certain airspace is no longer safe and that some people are seeking to destroy planes on the ground or in the air.
No matter what is said about security conditions at Saudi airports, these remain among the most secure in the world. Compare them to Baghdad and Basra, whose airports are surely among the most dangerous in the world. Iraq is a country under military occupation, and American and British forces face daily attacks. The soldiers seem too helpless to protect themselves, let alone protect the airports of Baghdad and Basra. Iraq is a country without a central authority or official institutions and lacks any internationally, or even locally, recognized body responsible for civil aviation and the safety of airports. It is a country awash in weapons, especially shoulder-held rocket launchers. Many Iraqis, for various reasons, would not hesitate to attack the Americans and British. How then can anyone expect to have safe civilian airports under such circumstances?
It is said that if you want to find the criminal, look for those who benefit from the crime. No doubt the beneficiary of any attempt to question security at Saudi airports is Israel. It is easy to trace down the source of these “reliable intelligence reports” with the Israeli secret service working tirelessly to destabilize the Kingdom and other countries in the Middle East.
Israeli firms, in conjunction with Western companies, are desperately trying to market air-defense systems under the claim of protecting civilian aircraft against attacks by people like the Palestinian portrayed carrying a rocket launcher.
— Arab News Local Press 22 September 2003
