DATE=8/17/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ AIRPORT OPENS (L-O)
NUMBER=2-265589
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT=
INTRO: The government of Iraq has reopened its
international airport outside Baghdad, saying it
expects to receive international flights soon. But
Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from our Middle East
bureau that because of international sanctions, the
opening is viewed as largely symbolic.
TEXT: Baghdad's Saddam International Airport reopened
(Thursday) amid ceremony and speeches, 10-years after
it was closed by international sanctions against Iraq.
An Iraqi military transport plane made a symbolic
inauguration of the airport after a short flight from
western Iraq.
Transportation Minister Ahmed Murtada announced the
facility can provide excellent services and is ready
for international airlines. He said several friendly
countries and humanitarian organizations have informed
the government they want to begin flying to Baghdad.
Reporters who toured the facility say it has been
modernized, and the refurbished passenger terminal
boasts new lounges and duty-free shops.
The airport was closed after the Iraqi invasion of
Kuwait that brought on the Gulf War. No commercial
flight has landed there since then, and only a few
humanitarian flights approved by the United Nations
have been allowed.
Nevertheless, there have been some unauthorized
landings at the airport in recent years, as the
government increasingly challenges the sanctions.
The Iraqi government broke the embargo last year by
transporting Muslim pilgrims on the Haj pilgrimage to
Mecca. Haj flights the following year were authorized
by the United Nations.
Four-months ago, three Italians and a French priest
landed at the airport without international
authorization, in a gesture of support for the Iraqi
people.
Last week, the president of Venezuela used the airport
to fly by helicopter to a border crossing near Iran.
He was the first foreign head of state to visit Iraq
since the Gulf war.
Iraq's government-owned press says a group of French
celebrities opposed to the sanctions are to make an
unauthorized flight to Baghdad next month. And Iraqi
media report Russia has said it might re-establish air
links, if Iraq abides by U-N resolutions.
The Iraqi government does not recognize the air embargo
and says the economic sanctions are illegal. It has
mounted a diplomatic and public relations campaign to
have these lifted. Despite international sympathy for
the suffering of the Iraqi people, support for an end
to the air-travel ban has been weak. This is due in
part to frequent attacks by U-S and British warplanes,
which are enforcing no-fly zones over a large portion
of Iraqi territory. (SIGNED)
NEB/FSB/WTW/RAE
17-Aug-2000 11:53 AM EDT (17-Aug-2000 1553 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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