It had, as I said, it had dissolved itself and the decision was made in essence to simply confirm the dissolution of the Army as part of the overall effort of de-Ba'athification, which Ambassador Bremer made as his theme when he arrived in Baghdad.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Remarks to the Council on Foreign Relations

The BA response (or IAG, to give the parent company its proper name) is that Lufthansa at its Frankfurt hub and Air France in Paris Charles de Gaulle are more dominant than BA will be with 53% of Heathrow's landing slots.

BBC: BA: long-haul and the short of it

"Our proposal for closer co-operation is a competitive response to the changing and challenging market environment and marks a step forward in our efforts to progress consolidation in Europe, " BA chief Rod Eddington and Iberia's chairman Xavier de Irala said in a joint statement.

BBC: BA and Iberia forge closer links