Israel-bound US arms flights set to land in Britain

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2006

LONDON (AFP) — Two US aircraft carrying weapons bound for Israel were due to stop off in Britain with government approval this weekend, as demonstrators planned to protest Sunday against the flights.

The Boeing 747 jets, carrying "hazardous material" from Texas to Tel Aviv, were due to touch down late Saturday and early Sunday at Glasgow Prestwick Airport in Scotland, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman said.

He added that they would be on the tarmac for a matter of hours while they were refuelled.

Israel is involved in an increasingly bloody conflict with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon in a crisis that flared up on July 12 and has cost over 500 lives.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair is facing growing domestic criticism for siding with the...