A planned Royal Air Force mission to Iceland is providing the latest flash point in the island’s increasingly strained relationship with Britain after the collapse of its banking system.
The Icelandic government is under intense political and public pressure to turn away the RAF aircraft due to be deployed to a base outside Reykjavik in December on a Nato mission to defend the island’s airspace.
Politicians of all persuasions and members of the public see the prospect of RAF jets flying over Iceland as unthinkable after Britain used an anti-terror act to freeze some Icelandic bank assets.
While the Treasury argues the actions were necessary and unavoidable, using powers more regularly used against al-Qaeda and North Korea offended many Icelanders and triggered a grass roots ‘We are not terrorists’ petition attracting more than 70,000 signatures out of a population of 300,000.
The Ministry of Defence on Thursday confirmed that it had “responded to a Nato request” and offered to send several aircraft to Keflavik air base under a routine and largely symbolic arrangement in which fellow Nato members take turns to police Iceland’s airspace.
Politicians from both inside and outside Iceland’s coalition government have called for the deployment to be halted. Karin Jakobsdottir, vice-chairman of the opposition Left Green party, the third largest, said Iceland’s public was “very angry”.
The Icelandic government is under intense political and public pressure to turn away the RAF aircraft due to be deployed to a base outside Reykjavik in December on a Nato mission to defend the island’s airspace.
Politicians of all persuasions and members of the public see the prospect of RAF jets flying over Iceland as unthinkable after Britain used an anti-terror act to freeze some Icelandic bank assets.
While the Treasury argues the actions were necessary and unavoidable, using powers more regularly used against al-Qaeda and North Korea offended many Icelanders and triggered a grass roots ‘We are not terrorists’ petition attracting more than 70,000 signatures out of a population of 300,000.
The Ministry of Defence on Thursday confirmed that it had “responded to a Nato request” and offered to send several aircraft to Keflavik air base under a routine and largely symbolic arrangement in which fellow Nato members take turns to police Iceland’s airspace.
Politicians from both inside and outside Iceland’s coalition government have called for the deployment to be halted. Karin Jakobsdottir, vice-chairman of the opposition Left Green party, the third largest, said Iceland’s public was “very angry”.
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