Iraq turns flight back for minister's son

A Baghdad-bound Middle East Airlines was told by Iraqi authorities it wouldn't be allowed to land unless it returned to Beirut to collect a passenger.

Iraqi authorities forced a Baghdad-bound Lebanese plane to turn around 20 minutes after leaving Beirut, because the transport minister's son had missed the flight, Lebanon's Middle East Airlines said.

MEA said the flight took off after repeatedly paging two passengers, who failed to turn up.

"The passengers did not respond to the calls and the plane took off after being delayed by several minutes," said the statement, carried by Lebanon's National News Agency on Thursday.

"About 20 minutes after take-off, Middle East Airlines was informed by its Baghdad office that the plane would be prevented from landing by local civil aviation officials if a passenger was not on board."

The missing passenger was identified as Mahdi al-Ameri, son of Iraqi Transport Minister Hadi al-Ameri, and the plane turned back to Beirut.

MEA said it was in touch with Iraqi authorities about the incident, which it said had caused financial losses and disrupted its flight schedule.