[Al Arabiya Latest] Iraq is trying to recover a 651 million euro ($895 million) payment to France for a consignment of Mirage F1 fighter planes that were never delivered, the cabinet has said.That's why they're called "Mirages", mon-sewer..
"(A ministerial) committee was recently formed to negotiate with the relevant French parties the recovery of 651 million euros paid in advance under the contract to buy Mirage F1 aircraft that the manufacturers never delivered," the cabinet said in a statement after meeting on Tuesday evening.
Iraq used to own 90 Mirage F1s, and signed a contract with France in September 1985 to buy 24 more of the combat aircraft. But they were not delivered before the UN Security Council imposed sweeping sanctions on Iraq over its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
A diplomat at the French embassy told AFP that he was looking into the matter, without elaborating.
In December, France cancelled 80 percent of the debt it was owed by Iraq, which amounted to around 4.8 billion euros ($6.6 billion).