BBC News Online: World: South Asia

Taliban say Iran blocked Iraq flight

The ruling Taliban in Afghanistan say they had to abandon plans to send a plane with relief supplies to Baghdad after Iran refused permission for the plane to fly over its territory.

The Taliban statement did not say when the request was refused.

But they said they had wanted to take advantage of the current atmosphere -- a reference to a number of recent international flights into Baghdad aimed at securing an easing of the UN embargo on Iraq.

The Taliban are themselves subject to UN sanctions over their refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, who's wanted in the United States in connection with the bombing of American embassies in East Africa in 1998.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service