Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, on Thursday ordered to expel and chastise whoever proven responsible for preventing a Middle East Airlines Lebanese plane from landing in Bagdad.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, on Thursday ordered to expel and chastise whoever proven responsible for preventing a Middle East Airlines Lebanese plane from landing in Bagdad.

Iraqi authorities banned today a MEA aircraft from touching down in Bagdad unless it carried on board the son of an Iraqi minister. The plane, with 71 passengers on board, returned in Beirut.

Iraqi Transport Ministry refuted the claims, saying that the ban was due to technical reasons.