Iraqi dismisses US pilot claims

The Iraqi government has dismissed a statement by United States military authorities that one of their pilots shot down during the Gulf War in 1991 might still be alive.

An Iraqi government spokesman said the statement was aimed at creating new problems between the two countries and that official Iraqi documents on the case will be released to prove that it is not true.

On Thursday, the defence department in Washington revived the search for the pilot on the basis of new evidence.

He had been declared dead at the time and was the only American killed on Iraqi territory whose remains were not recovered.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service