European countries deny barring El Al landings

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Three European countries said Tuesday that they had no rules in place barring El Al cargo flights carrying military equipment from landing inside their borders. The disclosure came after the head of El Al's pilots' union revealed that some cargo flights had been denied permission to land because they were carrying military equipment for use by the IDF. In the letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert obtained by The Associated Press, Itai Regev wrote on Sunday that Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy and Portugal would not let El Al planes on "special cargo flights" stop over at airports to refuel before making their way to Tel Aviv during the monthlong fighting with Hizbullah in Lebanon.