LON­DON-The own­er of British Air­ways and Span­ish air­line Iberia says it is con­sid­er­ing tak­ing a stake in Amer­i­can Air­lines. "It is some­thing we would con­sid­er," a spokes­woman for In­ter­na­tion­al Air­lines Group said yes­ter­day, con­firm­ing re­marks by IAG CEO Willie Walsh re­port­ed ear­li­er in the day by the Fi­nan­cial Times. Walsh said that a small stake in Amer­i­can could re­in­force Amer­i­can's par­tic­i­pa­tion in the Oneworld al­liance which in­cludes British Air­ways, Iberia, Japan Air­lines and Qan­tas. British Air­ways has a joint ven­ture with Amer­i­can on North At­lantic flights. Walsh said IAG is pre­pared to buy a stake "if we can make the case that there is ad­di­tion­al strate­gic val­ue to be achieved." Amer­i­can Air­lines is un­der­go­ing re­or­gan­i­sa­tion un­der US bank­rupt­cy law. In a speech in Wash­ing­ton on Ju­ly 17, Walsh said he be­lieved Amer­i­can would emerge as a stronger air­line. "A stronger AA not on­ly ben­e­fits its cus­tomers, em­ploy­ees and share­hold­ers but it al­so ben­e­fits its part­ners," he had said. (AP)