Yemeni plane takes off for Iraq

A Yemeni plane carrying humanitarian supplies bound for Iraq in defiance of United Nations sanctions, has taken off after securing authorisation from Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi authorities earlier refused to give clearance to the plane to fly over its airspace.

The aircraft, with a high level delegation on board, was forced to return to the country's capital, Sanaa.

The first Arab flight to Iraq for ten years took a Jordanian delegation to Baghdad on Wednesday; and since mid-August, three Russian and one French plane have also broken UN sanctions.

A second French flight which was due to leave today for Baghdad with medical supplies, has been delayed. The UN imposed sanctions on Iraq after its invasion of Kuwait ten years ago, which precipitated the Gulf War.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service