§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What, in international law, is the status (a) of Iraq airspace and (b) of the air defence systems which American and British aircraft have been attacking. [HL1679]
§ Lord GilbertIraq enjoys sovereignty over her airspace. The coalition's enforcement of the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq is, however, fully justified in international law. The zones were established in April 1991 for the north and August 1992 for the south in response to a situation of overwhelming humanitarian necessity and in support of UNSCR688, which demanded an end to the repression of the Kurds in the north and the marsh Arabs in the south. Coalition aircraft help to protect these people by ensuring that Iraqi aircraft are unable to fly north of the 36th parallel and south of the 33rd parallel. Under international law, coalition aircraft carrying out this mission have the right to defend themselves against any imminent threat from Iraq's air defence network.